LIBRARY 

t/NIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA 
DAVIS 


JEFFERSON  DAVIS 


EX-PRESIDENT    OF   THE    CONFEDERATE    STATES 
OF    AMERICA 


BY 

HIS   WIFE 


IN  TWO  VOLUMES 


VOL.  II. 


NEW   YORK 
BELFORD   COMPANY,  PUBLISHERS 

J8-22  EAST  18-TH 


LIBRARY 

UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA 
DAVIS 


COPYRIGHT  BY 

VABJNA  JEFFERSON  DAVIS, 
1890. 


CONTENTS    OF    VOLUME    II 


CHAPTER  I. 

PAGE 

FROM  WASHINGTON  TO  MISSISSIPPI i 

The  Task  of  Relating  her  Husband's  Life  in  the  Confeder 
acy — One  of  the  most  Benevolent  and  Patriotic  of  Men — His 
Withdrawal  from  the  Senate — Arrival  at  the  Crutchfield 
House,  Chattanooga,  1-6  ;  Met  by  Governor  and  State  Au 
thorities  on  Reaching  Mississippi — Appointed  to  Command 
of  a  State  Army,  with  rank  of  Major-General,  on  arriving  at 
Jackson — Troops  to  be  Raised — Had  the  Southern  States 
Possessed  Arsenals — He  did  not  Understand  Politics,  but 
Understood  the  Art  of  War,  6-12. 

CHAPTER  II. 

ELECTION  AS  PRESIDENT 13 

The  Convention  of  the  Seceding  States — The  Constitution 
Modelled  on  that  of  the  United  States— The  African  Slave 
Trade  Forbidden — Expenditure  of  Public  Money,  13-15  ; 
No  State  to  Levy  Duties  without  Consent  of  Congress,  Except 
on  Sea-going  Vessels — The  Terms  of  President  and  Vice- 
President — Notice  of  Election  to  the  Presidency  of  the  Con 
federate  States— Alexander  H.  Stephens,  Vice-President, 
15-19. 

CHAPTER  III. 

MR.  DAVIS  CONTINUES  His  NARRATIVE 20 

On  the  Way  to  Montgomery,  Made  Brief  Addresses — Judge 
Sharkey— False  Reports— Assumed  Office  of  President,  Feb- 


iv  CONTENTS. 

ruary    18,    1861 — Inaugural   Address — First  Letter  Written 
from  Montgomery,  Ala.,  February  2oth,  20-33. 


CHAPTER   IV. 

GOING  TO  MONTGOMERY— APPOINTMENT  OF  THE  CAB 
INET  34 

Closing  up  Dwelling  and  Abandoning  Library  with  Reluc 
tance,  and  the  Old  Flag  with  Sorrow — Montgomery  Swarm 
ing  with  Applicants  for  Commissions — Correspondent  of  the 
London  Times — Members  of  the  Cabinet — Provisional  Gov 
ernment's  Recommendation — President  Went  to  his  Office 
before  Nine,  came  Home  at  Six — Every  Change  in  the  Con 
stitution  of  the  old  Government  Jealously  avoided,  34-40. 


CHAPTER  V. 

THE  OFFICE  WAS  NOT  SOUGHT 41 

Mr.  Davis  never  Intrigued — Wrong  Impressions  in  Rela 
tion  to  him  Refuted  by  Hon.  J.  A.  P.  Campbell,  of  Missis 
sippi,  afterward  Justice  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  that  State 
— Who  should  be  President  ? — The  Claims  of  no  one  else 
were  Considered  or  even  Alluded  to — Mr.  Davis  Came  to  be 
the  Commander-in-chief  of  a  Country  not  yet  Torn  Loose  from 
the  Memories  of  a  Common  Glory — He  Longed  to  Stretch 
forth  his  Hand  to  the  North  before  Blood  was  Spilt,  41-47. 

CHAPTER  VI. 

PEACE  PROPOSITIONS 48 

The  Provisional  Congress  before  the  Arrival  of  Mr.  Davis 
— The  Free  Navigation  of  the  Mississippi — Peace  Commis 
sioners — Mr.  Z.  Chandler — Marshalling  the  States — A  Plan 
Agreed  upon  by  the  Majority — Lincoln — Great  Meeting  in 
New  York,  1861 — Views  of  Leading  Newspapers — Slavery  in 
the  Territories — Confederate  Commissioners  Sent  to  Wash 
ington,  47-57  ;  The  Crooked  Path  of  Diplomacy— Prepara- 


CONTENTS.  v 

tions  made  in  New  York  and  other  Northern  Ports  for  a 
Military  and  Naval  Expedition — Major  Anderson's  Letter — 
The  Count  of  Paris  Libels  Memory  of  Major  Anderson — Ves 
sels  Designed  for  Relief  of  Fort  Sumter  —  Failure  of  the 
Manoeuvre,  57-64. 

CHAPTER  VII. 

PREPARATIONS  FOR  WAR 65 

Officers  of  the  Confederate  Army — Captain  Semmes  Sent 
to  Buy  Guns — A  Musket  from  the  Tower  of  London — Appro 
priations  for  the  Navy — Mr.  Seward's  Views  Expressed  to 
Mr.  Dayton,  Minister  to  France — President  of  the  Confed 
eracy  Calls  Congress  Together,  April  29th — President  Lincoln 
Calls  out  Seventy-five  Thousand  Men — Manufactory  of  Arms 
and  Powder— Population  of  the  United  States— The  North 
Had  all  the  Advantages— If  the  South  had  Arms,  Whole  Pop 
ulation  would  have  been  Enrolled — Seat  of  Government  Re 
moved  from  Montgomery  to  Richmond,  Va. — Spottswood 
Hotel— Guests  of  the  City,  65-76. 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

THE  BOMBARDMENT  OF  SUMTER 77 

March  3d,  General  Beauregard,  Commander  of  All  the 
Confederate  Forces — The  Federal  Fleet — Hostilities  Com 
menced — Forts  Moultrie,  Sumter,  and  Johnston — Surrender 
of  Fort  Sumter — Cheered  by  Confederates  for  its  Gallant 
Resistance — Maryland  Overrun  with  Troops,  76,  81  ;  April 
19,  1861,  a  Body  of  Union  Troops  Fired  upon  Unarmed  Citi 
zens  at  Railway  Depot— The  Relay  House,  at  the  Junction 
of  Washington  &  Baltimore  Railways,  Occupied  by  Fed 
erals,  May  5th — General  Butler  Moved  to  Baltimore  and  Oc 
cupied  Federal  Hill — A  Demand  for  the  Surrender  of  Arms — 
Provost-marshal  Makes  Arrests — Members  of  the  Legislature 
at  Frederick  Arrested — Citizens  Conveyed  to  Fortress  Mon 
roe  and  Imprisoned  while  Sick,  without  Blankets  or  Pillows, 
81-85. 


vi  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER   IX. 

PAGE 

THE  PRESIDENT  ARRIVES  IN  RICHMOND 86 

On  Arrival  at  Richmond  Found  General  Lee  in  Command 
of  Army  of  Virginia — General  Johnston  at  Harper's  Ferry — 
General  Beauregard  at  Manassas — Generals  Huger  and  Ma- 
gruder  at  Norfolk — Official  Letter  to  General  Johnston,  who 
Desires  to  Retire  from  his  Post  so  as  to  Check  the  Advance 
of  General  Patterson — Two  First  Encounters  of  the  Northern 
and  Southern  Troops,  June  n,  1861,  at  Bethel  Church ;  June 
1 8th,  at  Bridge  on  Baltimore  &  Ohio  Railroad — A  Disaster  to 
the  Confederate  Arms — General  Garnett  Killed — Great  Ac 
tivity  and  Commotion  among  the  Confederates — Official  Cor 
respondence,  86-91. 

CHAPTER  X. 

ENGAGEMENT  AT  BULL  RUN,  AND  BATTLE  OF  MANAS 
SAS  92 

July  2  ist,  Cannonade  Opened  by  the  Znemy — The  Battle 
Raged  with  Varied  Success — Around  the  House  of  Mrs.  Hen- 
ery  was  Fiercest — Reports  that  the  Field  was  Lost  to  the 
Confederates— Some  of  the  Confederates  Suffering  from 
Hunger — Signs  of  an  Utter  Rout  of  the  Enemy — The  Cry, 
"On  to  Richmond,"  changed  to  "  Off  for  Washington" — 
Caring  for  the  Wounded — Confederate  Victory  Complete  at 
All  Points — Flight  of  the  Enemy — The  Army  under  McDow 
ell,  34,127  Present  for  Duty — The  Confederate  Force  Num 
bered  13,000  only,  92-101. 

CHAPTER  XI. 
CONFERENCES  AFTER  THE  BATTLE  OF  MANASSAS 102 

An  Order  to  Pursue  the  Enemy — Correspondence  Regard 
ing  the  Failure  to  Pursue  McDowell  from  the  Field  of  Ma 
nassas — Victory  Dearly  Achieved  through  the  Loss  of  the 
Lives  of  so  Many  Brave  Men — Remarks  on  the  Dispersion 
of  Confederate  Troops  after  the  Battle— The  Large  Amount 


CONTENTS.  vii 

of  Fine  Artillery,  Small  Arms,  and  Ammunition  Captured,  of 
Great  Benefit — Generals  all  Content  with  what  had  been 
Done — Allusions  to  Crossing  the  Potomac,  102-113. 

CHAPTER  XII. 

REFLECTIONS  ON  THE  VICTORY 114 

Confederate  States  Had  no  Disciplined  Troops,  were  In 
ferior  as  to  the  Number  of,  and  Excellence  of,  Arms — Great 
Disparity  in  Artillery — The  Field  very  Extensive,  Broken, 
and  Wooded — Hulbert,  of  Connecticut — The  Day  after  the 
Battle  of  Manassas — T.  K.  Fauntleroy,  114-119. 

CHAPTER  XIII. 

RESPONSIBILITY  FOR  THE  FAILURE  TO  PURSUE 120 

The  President's  Letters  on  the  Subject,  and  General 
Johnston's  and  General  Beauregard's  Replies — General  S. 
Cooper  is  made  Acquainted  with  Details,  102-137. 

CHAPTER  XIV. 

GENERAL  JOHNSTON'S  CORRESPONDENCE 138 

After  the  Battle  of  Manassas — Confederates  Camp  in  and 
around  Centreville — Matters  not  Running  Smoothly  between 
Generals  Johnston  and  Beauregard  at  Manassas — The  Pres 
ident  Snubs  General  Johnston,  Designating  His  Arguments 
and  Statements  Utterly  One-sided,  and  His  Insinuations  as 
Unfounded  as  They  are  Unbecoming — The  Roster  of  the 
Generals  of  the  Confederate  Army  in  1861-62 — Mr.  Davis's 
Letter  to  Hon.  James  Lyons,  Richmond,  Va.,  138-158. 

CHAPTER  XV. 

THE  OPPOSITION  OF  CONGRESS  TO  THE  PRESIDENT.  . .  159 
The  Term  of  the  Provisional  Congress  about  to  Close — 
Newly  Elected  Members  and  Senators  to  be  Sworn  in — 
Ships  for  the  Destruction  of  the  Merchant  Marine  of  the 
United  States — Selling  Cotton  to  the  Enemy — Stringency  of 


viii  CONTENTS. 

English  Cotton  Market — Party  in  Opposition  to  the  Admin 
istration — To  Give  Entertainments  or  Administer  the  Gov 
ernment — Hints  of  His  Getting  Rich  on  His  Savings — One 
or  Two  of  the  Generals  had  Their  Cliques — Change  of  Cir 
cumstances  Made  it  Impossible  at  Times  to  Act  on  Advice 
of  Congress  Committees — He  was  Abnormally  Sensitive  to 
Disapprobation — Wounds  an  Old  Friend  Unavoidably,  159- 
164. 

CHAPTER  XVI.  ] 

BEAUREGARD'S  LETTER 165 

A  Period  of  Inactivity — Foreign  Recognition  Fully  Ex 
pected —  Mr.  Hunter,  of  Virginia  —  General  Beauregard 
Mentioned  as  Possibly  Next  President — An  Estrangement 
Between  Him  and  the  Authorities  at  Richmond — Correspon 
dence  to  the  Richmond  Whig — Generals  Cooper  and  Lee, 
from  the  President — General  Beauregard's  Report  on  the 
Battle  of  Manassas,  Commented  upon  by  General  Lee — Con 
troversy  between  General  Beauregard  and  the  Secretary  of 
War  about  this  Time — The  President  to  General  Beaure 
gard,  172-177. 

CHAPTER  XVII. 

ROANOKE  ISLAND — MR.  DAVIS'S  INAUGURATION 178 

The  Year  1862 — Campaigns  of  Confederate  States  Opened 
Early — A  General  Reorganization  of  the  Cabinet,  March  I7th 
— The  Enemy  Unusually  Active — Capture  of  Roanoke  Isl 
and,  an  Important  Outpost  of  the  Confederates,  by  General 
Burnside — Captain  O.  Jennings  Wise,  of  the  Richmond 
Blues,  Killed— His  Father's  Exclamation,  178-179. 

CHAPTER  XVIII. 

THE  INAUGURATION 180 

A  Contemporary  Account  of  the  Inaugural  Ceremony, 
February  22,  1862 — The  President  and  the  Vice-President 
Elect  Received  with  Hearty  Cheers — The  Oath  Administered 
to  the  President  by  Judge  Haliburton,  of  the  Confederate 


CONTENTS. 


IX 


District  Court — Mr.  Hunter,  President  of  the  Senate,  pro 
claimed  Mr.  Davis  President  for  the  Term  of  Six  Years — 
Mr.  Hunter  Administered  Oath  to  Vice-President,  180-183. 

CHAPTER  XIX. 

EFFORT  TO  EFFECT  EXCHANGE  OF  PRISONERS— EVAC 
UATION  OF  MANASSAS— VISIT  TO  FREDERICKS- 
BURG  184 

Early  in  the  War  Confederate  Government  Desired  a  Free 
Exchange  of  Prisoners — Suspension  Writ  of  Habeas  Corpus — 
Martial  Law  Proclaimed — Extended  over  City  of  Richmond 
and  the  Adjoining  Country  for  a  Distance  of  Ten  Miles — 
February  2d,  General  Beauregard  Takes  Leave  of  the  Army 
of  the  Potomac — Instructions  to  General  Johnston — He  Be 
gan  his  Retreat  March  yth,  in  Undue  Haste,  from  the  Front 
of  McClellan — General  Early  States  Unnecessary  Loss  at 
Manassas,  184-189;  Correspondence  —  The  President  to 
General  Johnston — The  President  and  General  Johnston 
Proceed  to  Fredericksburg  and  Make  a  Reconnoissance — The 
President  Returns  to  Richmond  to  Await  Further  Develop 
ments — General  Holmes  Relieved  of  his  Command  and  Di 
rected  to  Report  at  Richmond— Letters  Written  by  Resi 
dents  of  Fredericksburg,  189-197. 

CHAPTER  XX. 

THE  EXECUTIVE  MANSION— THE  HOSPITALS 198 

In  July,  Moved  to  the  "  Old  Brockenbrugh  House  "— 
"  The  Carrara  Marble  Mantels  were  the  Delight  of  our  Chil 
dren  "  —  "  Lovely  Mary  Brockenbrugh  "  —  "  Mrs.  James 
Grant " — Impressed  by  the  Simplicity,  Sincerity,  and  Beauty 
of  the  Ladies  of  Richmond — Clothed  and  Cared  for  the  Sol 
diers,  and  Labored  in  the  Hospitals— Various  Interesting 
Incidents — Mrs.  Mary  Arnold  and  Numerous  Other  Ladies 
Active  in  all  Good  and  Patriotic  Works — People  Rose  in 
Their  Might  and  Met  Every  Emergency  with  Self-sacrifice 
and  Reckless  Daring— The  President's  Health  Precarious— 


x  CONTENTS. 

General  Lee  and  the  Silver  Saucepan — The  Last  Part  of  the 
War  no  One  had  any  Delicacies,  198-210. 

CHAPTER  XXI. 

EMANCIPATION  PROCLAMATION 211 

Members  of  the  Maryland  Legislature  Arrested,  1862, 
under  Circumstances  of  Great  Outrage — Lettres  de  Cachet — 
Drum-head  Courts-martial — Civilians  Condemned  to  Death 
— President  Lincoln's  Hopes  and  Plans — The  Act  of  Confis 
cation,  July  25,  1862— Slavery  Declared  Abolished  in  all 
States  after  January  First — Confederates  are  Willing  to  Have 
Peace,  but  not  at  the  Expense  of  their  Constitutional  Rights 
—President  Davis's  Opinions  on  the  Proclamation— The 
North  Bends  its  Energies  to  Subjugating  the  South — The 
Condition  of  Servants — Thousands  of  Contrabands  in  Alex 
andria — Well-dressed  Darkies  are  the  Special  Aversion  of 
the  Volunteers,  211-219. 

CHAPTER  XXII. 

MISSOURI  (MONITOR)  AND  VIRGINIA  (MERRIMAC) 220 

After  Disaster  Victory  again  Crowned  the  Confederates  in 
a  Fight  that  Revolutionized  the  Art  of  Naval  Warfare— The 
Evacuation  of  Norfolk,  and  Destruction  of  the  Ram  Virginia, 
as  she  could  not  be  brought  up  the  River — A  Captured  Flag 
— It  was  Damp  with  Blood — It  was  Borne  to  the  President 
by  Colonel  John  Taylor  Wood,  220-221. 

CHAPTER  XXIII. 

SHILOH,  1862— CORINTH 222 

February  4th,  General  Beauregard  at  Bowling  Green — 6th, 
Surrender  of  Fort  Henry — nth,  Evacuation  of  Bowling 
Green— 1 6th,  Fort  Donaldson  Fell— The  Loss  of  Forts  Henry 
and  Donaldson  Opened  River  Routes  to  Nashville  and 
North  Alabama — General  Johnston  Writes  to  President,  who 
Replies — Enemy  Commenced  Moving  up  Tennessee  River, 
March  loth — Confederate  Force  at  Corinth — General  Bragg 


CONTENTS.  xi 

on  the  Battle  of  Shiloh — When  General  Johnston  Fell,  had 
the  Successes  of  the  Confederates  been  Followed  up,  Grant 
and  his  Army  Would  have  Been  Fugitives  or  Prisoners,  222- 
232  ;  General  Folk's  Report — Colonel  Le  Baron's  Statement 
—Colonel  McCardle's  Statement— Opinion  of  a  Staff  Officer 
— Mr.  Davis's  Reply  to  a  Letter  from  a  Friend — The  Field 
Return  of  the  Army  of  Mississippi  before  the  Battle  of  Shi 
loh,  233-242  ;  April  9th,  General  Halleck  left  for  Pittsburg 
Landing — An  Advance  on  Corinth  Made  by  General  Grant 
— Orders  to  General  Bragg — Physicians  Certify  that  General 
Beauregard  is  too  111  for  Active  Service — Telegram  to  Gen 
eral  Bragg — Telegram  to  Secretary  Stanton  after  the  Evac 
uation  of  Corinth,  243-248. 

CHAPTER  XXIV. 

NEW  ORLEANS , 249 

Depression  at  the  Loss  of  Shiloh— The  Fall  of  New  Or 
leans  a  Terrible  Blow — General  Butler  Inaugurated  Ruler  of 
the  City — He  Hangs  Mumford — He  is  Proclaimed  by  Presi 
dent  Davis  a  Felon,  an  Outlaw,  and  a  Common  Enemy  of 
Mankind,  to  be  Hanged  at  Sight — No  Commissioned  Officer 
of  the  United  States  Taken  Captive  to  be  Paroled  before 
Exchanged  until  Butler  Meets  with  Condign  Punishment — 
Butler's  Atrocities  Further  Denounced,  etc.,  249-258  ;  But 
ler  Denounced  in  the  House  of  Lords — December  I3th,  Earl 
Russell  said,  etc. — The  British  Government  not  Inclined  to 
Offer  Mediation  between  North  and  South,  258-260. 

CHAPTER  XXV. 

YORKTOWN  AND  WlLLIAMSBURG 261 

February  27,  1862 — Office  of  Commanding  General — Gen 
eral  McClellan's  Account  of  his  Movements — The  "  Formid 
able  Fortifications "  at  Centreville  Consisted  of  Thirty-one 
Wooden  Guns— Federal  Army  Transferred  to  the  Peninsula 
— Confederate  Council  of  War — Instructions  to  General  John 
ston — Engagement  at  Williamsburg — Fifth  North  Carolina 
Annihilated — General  Early  Wounded — Supplies  of  Every 


xii  CONTENTS. 

Useful  Implement  Failing — Burning  of  all  the  Cotton  in  the 
Country — Form  of  Certificate  Given  for  Cotton  Burned  June 
10,  1862 — Extract  from  an  Old  Newspaper,  261-267. 

CHAPTER  XXVI. 

THE  GUN-BOATS  IN  THE  JAMES  RIVER — BATTLE  OF 

SEVEN  PINES 268 

May  9th,  Mr.  Davis  Determined  his  Family  Should  Leave 
Richmond — Gun-boats  Ascending  the  River — Mr.  Davis 
Baptized — Campaign  Begins  in  Dreadful  Earnest— Mr.  Davis 
Sends  a  Letter  to  Mrs.  Davis,  270-274 ;  Writes  Again,  May 
1 9th— McClellan's  Army,  156,838;  Effectives  Present,  105,- 
825  ;  Johnston's  Effectives,  62,  696  ;  Under  Date,  Mr.  Davis 
Writes,  '  We  are  steadily  developing  for  a  great  battle ' — 
Sent  for  General  Lee — Johnston  Moves  Upon  the  Enemy — 
Rode  out  to  Meadow  Bridge  to  See  the  Action  Commence — 
May  3ist,  Firing  in  the  Direction  of  Seven  Pines — Field  of 
Battle  Briefly  Described,  275-284  ;  Report  of  General  Long- 
street  Published  by  the  War  Department,  Washington — Mr. 
Davis,  June  ist,  Rode  out — Was  in  Danger  of  Getting  Too 
Near  the  Enemy — Confederates  in  Sore  Straits — General 
Lee  in  Full  Command — A  Severe  Battle — General  Johnston 
Severely  Wounded — Official  Reports  of  Losses,  284-290; 
Mrs.  Johnston  Distressed  and  Watchful— Some  Heavy  Skir 
mishes — Cannot  Telegraph  Without  Attracting  Attention — 
The  Movements  of  the  Enemy  Are  Slow — Mississippi  Troops 
Lying  in  Camp — Jackson  on  the  Move,  291-294. 

CHAPTER  XXVII. 

JACKSON  IN  THE  VALLEY 295 

General  Jackson  Forms  a  Junction  with  General  Edward 
Johnston,  May  8th — A  Panic  in  Washington — General  Ewell 
Holds  Fremont  in  Check — General  Johnston  Ties  a  Buck- 
tail  to  the  Color-lance — General  Order,  Affixing  a  Bucktail 
to  the  Color  Staff  of  First  Maryland — Fremont  Defeated  at 
Cross  Keys  by  General  Jackson,  and  General  Shields  at 
Fort  Republic — The  Valley  of  the  Shenandoah  Wrested  from 


CONTENTS.  xiii 

the  Enemy — Description,  Personal  Appearance  of  "  Stone 
wall  "  Jackson — Brutality  ere  the  Close  of  the  War,  295-300. 

CHAPTER  XXVIII. 

MR.  DAVIS'S  LITERARY  PREFERENCES 301 

One  of  the  Most  Disheartening  Periods  of  the  War — Evac 
uation  of  Norfolk  and  Destruction  of  the  Virginia — Mr. 
Davis  Reads  "  Guy  Livingston  " — His  Love  of  Poetry  and 
His  Favorite  Authors— Fond  of  Moore's  Melodies,  301-306. 

CHAPTER  XXIX. 

SEVEN  DAYS'  BATTLES  AROUND  RICHMOND 306 

Condensed  Account  by  Mr.  Davis — Riding  from  Field  of 
Battle,  Seven  Pines — Army  in  Front  of  Richmond — The 
Day  after  General  Lee  Assumed  Command — Modification  of 
Plans — Evidence  of  General  Lee's  Fortitude,  306-309  ;  Let 
ters  from  the  President  to  Mrs.  Davis,  June  nth,  I3th,  2ist, 
23d,  25th,  July  6th,  and  7th,  310-326. 

CHAPTER  XXX. 

FOREIGN     RELATIONS  —  UNJUST     DISCRIMINATION 

AGAINST  Us — DIPLOMATIC  CORRESPONDENCE...  327 
Our  Representatives  in  Europe — Announcement,  Govern 
ments  Could  not  Assume  to  Judge  Between  the  Combatants 
— Government  of  the  Confederate  States  and  the  British 
Foreign  Office — Dissatisfaction  with  the  Latter— Her  Majes 
ty's  Government  Does  not  Discriminate  Justly — Our  Repre 
sentatives  Meet  with  Rebuffs — Mr.  Mason's  Communications 
to  Lord  John  Russell — His  Lordship's  Replies,  327-346. 

CHAPTER  XXXI. 

MEMPHIS,  VICKSBURG,  AND  BATON  ROUGE 347 

June  7th,  Gun-boats  Steam  Down  Tennessee  River — Ene 
my  Try  to  Sink  the  Arkansas— On  27th  Both  Federal 
Fleets  Retire— Siege  Ended— Battle  of  Baton  Rouge,  and 


xiv  CONTENTS. 

Destruction  of  the  Ram  Arkansas  to  Save  Her  from  the 
Enemy,  347. 

CHAPTER  XXXII. 

CONFEDERATE    CONGRESS — THE  PRESIDENT'S    MES 
SAGE—HORACE  GREELEY 348 

August  23d,  Vote  of  Thanks  by  Congress  to  General  J.  C. 
Breckinridge  for  Gallant  Conduct — Several  Resolutions  Of 
fered  in  Favor  of  Conscription — Mr.  Foote's  Bill  for  Retalia 
tory  Purposes — Report  of  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury — 
Report  of  the  Postmaster-General,  348-354. 

CHAPTER  XXXIII. 

RETALIATION  FOR  OUTRAGES 355 

Brutal  Orders  of  General  Pope — President  Davis's  Com 
munications  and  Orders  to  General  Lee  on  the  Subject,  355- 
360. 

CHAPTER  XXXIV. 

CAMPAIGN    AGAINST    POPE  —  SECOND    MANASSAS  — 

SHARPSBURG— FREDERICKSBURG 361 

General  Jackson  Sent  to  Engage  General  Pope — Enemy 
Forced  to  Withdraw — The  Career  of  General  Pope,  Brief, 
Boastful,  and  Disastrous — That  of  Lee  and  Jackson,  Brilliant, 
Audacious,  and  Successful — A  Battle  Order  Lost — After 
Battle  Second  Manassas  Lee  Crosses  Potomac  and  Enters 
Maryland — Lee  at  Bay  at  Sharpsburg — Federal  Army, 
40,000,  Confederate,  14,000  —  Confederates  Victorious  ; 
Passed  into  Virginia  Again — December  I3th,  Battle  of  Fred- 
ericksburg,  361-365. 

CHAPTER  XXXV. 

VISIT  TO  TENNESSEE— BATTLE  OF  MURFREESBORO.  . .  366 
The  President's  Letter  to  Mrs.  Davis  from  Chattanooga, 
Tenn.,  December  i5th,  366-368. 


CONTENTS.  xv 


CHAPTER  XXXVI. 

PAGE 

INTRODUCTION  TO  1863 369 

Mr.  Davis  Oppressed  Through  Reverses,  but  Confederates 
in  Hopes  of  Recognition  by  England— Complaints  from  Sub 
jugated  States — Andrew  Johnson,  Governor  of  Tennessee — 
Iron-clad  Oath  Administered — Prisoners  of  War  on  Bread 
and  Water — Slaves  Driven  from  Their  Homes,  or  Forced  to 
Work  under  Bayonet  Guard — Order  91 — Members  of  Con 
gress  Elected  under  Military  Government — An  Oath  Re 
quired  from  All  the  Residents  of  the  Conquered  States — Mr. 
Lincoln  Swore  in  1861  to  Sustain  the  Constitution — When 
the  War  Closed,  Who  were  the  Victors  ?— Bread  Riot — Mr. 
Davis  Addressed  and  Dispersed  the  Rioters,  369-376. 

CHAPTER  XXXVII. 

CHANCELLORSVILLE 377 

April,  1863,  General  Hooker  Crosses  the  Rappahannock 
with  132,000  Men — Lee's  Army  Numbered  57,000 — General 
Jackson  Suffering  from  Illness — Battle  Begins — Confederates 
Rush  on  the  Earthworks — General  Jackson's  Cry  in  the  Field 
at  Every  Success — His  Officers  Fatally  Mistaken  for  the 
Enemy's  Cavalry — Recital  of  the  Terrible  Incidents  of  Gen 
eral  Jackson's  Death,  377-383. 

CHAPTER   XXXVIII. 

GETTYSBURG 384 

May,  1863,  General  Lee's  Army  Rested  Near  Fredericks- 
burg — General  Hooker's  Forces— Lee  Began  a  Movement 
Culminating  in  the  Battle  of  Gettysburg — Ewell's  Corps 
Routs  General  Milroy  at  Winchester  and  Captures  Prisoners 
and  Stores — The  Federal  Commander  Covers  Washington — . 
June  27th,  General  Lee  at  Chambersburg — Federal  Cavalry 
First  Encountered  at  Cashtown,  July  ist — General  Reynolds 
Killed— Cemetery  Hill,  Hand  to  Hand  Conflict— The  Battle 
Rages— Mighty  Feats  of  Valpr  on  the  Part  of  Both  Combat- 


xvi  CONTENTS. 

ants — Lee  Defeated,  but  Not  Disheartened — The  President 
Sorely  Tried — Eulogy  on  His  Army,  384-391. 

CHAPTER  XXXIX. 

GENERAL  LEE'S  OFFER  OF  RESIGNATION 392 

General  Lee  Assumes  All  the  Responsibility  of  Failure  at 
Gettysburg — His  Noble  Letter  to  the  President  and  Offer  to 
Resign  his  Command — The  President's  Reply,  392-399. 

CHAPTER  XL. 

VICE-PRESIDENT  STEPHENS'S  COMMISSION  TO  WASH 
INGTON  400 

An  Attempt  to  Renew  Negotiations  with  the  Federal  Gov 
ernment — Letter  of  Instruction  from  the  President  to  the 
Vice-President — Letter  of  Mr.  Davis  to  President  Lincoln, 
400-407  ;  Mr.  Stephens  Proceeds  to  Fortress  Monroe  under 
Flag  of  Truce — Permission  to  Go  to  Washington  Refused  by 
the  Federal  Government — The  Military  Authorities  Suffi 
cient  to  Deal  with  "  the  Insurgents  " — Report  of  the  Vice- 
President  on  the  Subject,  407-411. 

CHAPTER  XLI. 

FALL  OF  VICKSBURG,  JULY  4,  1863 412 

Dissatisfaction  with  the  President  and  his  Cabinet— Atten 
tion  Directed,  in  January,  1863,  to  a  Campaign  with  Vicks 
burg  as  an  Objective  Point — General  Johnston  Ordered,  May 
9th,  to  Proceed  to  Mississippi  at  Once  and  Take  Chief  Com 
mand  of  the  Forces — The  Enemy  Between  Jackson  and  Gen 
eral  Pemberton's  Force  Thirty  Miles  Away — Pemberton 
Forced  to  Retire  to  Vicksburg— May  iSth,  Grant  Invests  the 
City — Details  of  the  Siege — General  Grant  Telegraphs  to 
Washington — General  Johnston  Telegraphs  to  the  Secretary 
of  War — Grant  Telegraphs  to  Halleck"Joe  Johnston  has 
postponed  his  attack  "—After  Forty-seven  Days  Vicksburg 
Falls,  July  1 7th— Johnston  Abandons  Jackson  and  Retreats 
into  the  Interior,  412-424. 


CONTENTS.  xvii 

CHAPTER  XLII. 

PAGE 

PRESIDENT  DAVIS'S  LETTER  TO  GENERAL  JOHNSTON 

AFTER  THE  FALL  OF  VlCKSBURG 425 

Communication  from  the  President  to  General  Johnston 
Dated  Richmond,  July  15,  1863 — The  Reasons  for  Con 
demning  the  Course  and  Conduct  of  the  General  Given  in 
Detail— The  General's  Telegrams,  425-440. 

CHAPTER  XLIII. 

MILITARY  OPERATIONS  AT  CHARLESTON 441 

Defence  of  Charleston  the  Most  Notable  Event  of  the 
Summer  of  1863 — Lack  of  Diligence  on  the  Part  of  General 
Beauregard — July  loth,  a  Concealed  Battery  Opened  Fire 
on  the  Confederate  Lines — Answered  Briskly — July  i8th, 
Federal  Fleet  Poured  a  Terrific  Fire  into  Fort  Wagner — Af 
ter  a  Furious  Cannonade  by  Sea  and  Land  for  Fifty-seven 
Days,  the  Fort  and  Island  Evacuated  on  the  Night  of  Sep 
tember  6th — Sabine  Pass — A  Confederate  Force  of  Forty- 
two  Men  and  Two  Lieutenants  Drives  the  Whole  Federal 
Fleet  out  of  the  Pass,  441-444. 

CHAPTER  XLIV. 

LETTER  TO  His  HOLINESS,  THE  POPE 445 

Mr.  Davis's  Early  Education  Prompts  Him  to  Write  to 
Rome  and  Thank  the  Pope  for  His  Sympathy — The  Pope's 
Reply — Refers  to  the  Archbishops  of  New  York  and  New 
Orleans — Sends  His  Likeness  to  Mr.  Davis  During  His  Im 
prisonment,  445-448. 

CHAPTER  XLV. 

CHICKAMAUGA  AND  MISSIONARY  RIDGE 449 

The  Bloody  Battle  of  Chickamauga,  August  2oth — Briga 
dier-General  William  Preston  Sent  to  Mexico  to  Treat  with 
the  New  Emperor — Grant's  Movements— He  Captures  Look- 


xviii  CONTENTS. 

out  Mountain — Confederates  Retreat  Toward  Tunnel  Hill — 
General  Bragg  Relieved — General  Hardee  Assigned  the 
Command  of  the  Army  of  the  West,  but  Declines  to  Accept 
— General  Joseph  E.  Johnston  Directed  to  Take  the  Com 
mand  Personally,  December  16,  1863,  449-451. 


CHAPTER  XLVI. 

CORRESPONDENCE  BETWEEN  PRESIDENT  DAVIS  AND 
GOVERNOR  Z.  B.  VANCE 452 

Treasonable  Purposes  of  Holden,  Editor  of  the  Standard 
— The  Case  a  Grave  One — Mr.  Davis  Begs  for  Information 
from  Governor  Vance — The  Latter  Replies — Rejoinder  of 
the  President — Lincoln  Referred  to  in  Severe  but  Merited 
Terms,  452-461. 

CHAPTER  XLVII. 

THE  MARYLAND  LINE  AND  THE  KILPATRICK   AND 
DAHLGREN  RAID 462 

An  Expedition  Organized  by  the  Federals,  February,  1864 
— Crossed  Ely's  Ford  on  the  29th,  After  Surprising  and  Cap 
turing  Picket — At  Daylight,  March  1st,  Marylanders  Drove 
in  One  of  Kilpatrick's  Flanking  Parties — A  Despatch  from 
Dahlgren  to  Kilpatrick  Captured  with  an  Officer  and  Five 
Men — Dahlgren  Attacks  North  Side  of  the  City — A  Com 
pany  of  Richmond  Boys  Under  Eighteen — Dahlgren  Re 
treats,  is  Shot  Dead,  and  His  Command  Captured — General 
Wade  Hampton's  Report,  462-465  ;  Orders  Discovered  on 
the  Body  of  Colonel  Dahlgren — Mr.  Blair  Amused  Over  the 
Loss  of  Life  and  Suffering,  465-473. 


CHAPTER  XLVIII. 
DIPLOMATIC  CORRESPONDENCE 474 

Her  Britannic  Majesty's  Government  to  Observe  a  Course 
of  Neutrality — Letter  to  President  Davis  from  Lord  Lyons, 
Legation,  Washington — Full  Copy  of  Earl  Russell's  Instruc- 


CONTENTS.  xix 

tions — Won't  Permit  Confederates  to  Build  Ships  of  War  in 
any  British  Possession.  The  Cumberland  and  the  Merrimac 
— The  President's  Reply,  Proud,  Pungent,  and  Just,  474-482. 

CHAPTER  XLIX. 

FORT  PILLOW,  OCEAN  POND,  AND  MERIDIAN 483 

Generals  Forrest  and  Chalmers  Attack  Federal  Forces 
Occupying  the  Fort — April  12,  1864,  Captured  the  Fort 
After  a  Fierce  Resistance,  14  Confederate  Officers  and  Men 
were  Killed,  and  86  Wounded  ;  Many  Federals  Taken  Pris 
oners — Generals  Finnegan  and  Colquitt  Victorious  at  Ocean 
Pond  —  Expel  the  Enemy  from  Florida  —  February  3d, 
General  Sherman  Crosses  State  of  Mississippi  to  Meridian — 
Joined  by  Federal  Cavalry  from  Corinth  and  Holly  Springs 
— General  Forrest  Forces  Him  to  Make  a  Hasty  Retreat — 
General  Banks's  Attempt  to  Penetrate  Central  Texas  Fails — 
Totally  Routed,  483-486. 

CHAPTER  L. 

VIRGINIA  CAMPAIGN,  1864 487 

Grant's  Theory  of  War — He  Takes  Command  March  17, 
1864 — The  Army  of  the  Potomac,  141,160  Men — Lee's  En 
tire  Effective  Strength,  64,000 — May  4th,  Grant  Begins  His 
March — Lee  Gives  Him  a  Blow  in  the  Wilderness — Long- 
street  Wounded  in  Mistake  by  His  Own  Men — Lee's  Brave 
Conduct — Enemy  Able  to  Rally  Their  Forces  and  Reform 
Behind  Their  Intrenchments — Both  Armies  Intrenched  at 
Spottsylvania  Court  House — May  I2th,  Enemy  Made  a 
Heavy  Assault — Nearly  3,000  Confederates  Taken  Prisoners 
— Eighteen  Pieces  of  Artillery  Captured  Also,  487-491  ; 
Grant  Moves  in  the  Direction  of  Hanover  Junction  on  the 
Night  of  the  2oth — Lee  Follows  Him — June  3d,  the  Two 
Armies  Meet  at  Cold  Harbor— 13,000  Men  Placed  "  Hors  de 
Combat"  in  One  Hour— Grant,  after  this  Battle,  Moves 
Toward  James  River  Below  Richmond — During  the  Cam 
paign  Grant  Reinforced  51,000  Men,  Lee,  14,400 — The  Fed 
eral  Commander's  Loss  from  May  4th  to  June  4th — Mr. 


xx  CONTENTS. 

Davis  Visits  General  Lee — An  Incident  on  One  of  the  Pres 
ident's  Lonely  Rides — Confederate  Spirit  of  Devotion — 
Women  and  Children  in  Richmond  Suffering  for  Food — = 
Death  from  Accident  of  One  of  the  President's  Children — A 
Sad  Household,  491-497. 

CHAPTER   LI. 
YELLOW  TAVERN — DEATH  OF  STUART 498 

May  1 3th,  the  President  Rides  Out  to  the  Front — A  Line 
of  Skirmishers  Near  the  Yellow  Tavern — General  Stuart  Shot 
— His  Wound  Mortal— President  Visits  His  Death-bed— Eu 
logy  on  His  Character — Burial  of  the  Young  Hero,  498-503. 

CHAPTER  LII. 
BOMBARDMENT  OF  CHARLESTON 504 

August  21,  1863,  Major-General  Gilmore  Opened  Fire  on 
the  City  Before  the  Hour  Named  by  Him— His  Object  Was 
to  Enforce  the  Surrender  of  the  City  Without  Complying 
with  the  Honorable  Usages  of  War — His  Purpose  Was  to 
Reach  the  Heart  of  the  City  and  Make  it  Unhabitable  by 
Non-combatants — Threw  Shells  Into  the  City  from  Time  to 
Time— Confederate  Prisoners  Held  Confined  under  the  Fire 
of  Our  Batteries  so  as  to  Hinder  Our  Resistance,  504-507. 

CHAPTER  LIII. 
BATTLE  OF  DRURY'S  BLUFF,  MAY  16,  1864 508 

Grant's  Plan  of  Campaign — Butler  Ordered  to  Concentrate 
His  Troops  at  City  Point  and  Destroy  the  Railroad  Leading  to 
Richmond — Confederate  Troops,  May  i4th,  Reach  Vicinity  of 
Drury's  Bluff — General  Robert  Ransom's  Monograph  upon 
the  Battle — Hot  Work— Beauregard  Censured— A  "  Solid 
Shot  Struck  at  the  Feet  of  President  Davis  "—Butler  Re 
treats  to  His  Lines — General  Beauregard's  "  Memorandum" 
— The  Document  Sent  to  General  Bragg  with  an  Endorse 
ment  on  it  by  the  President,  508-523. 


xxi 


CHAPTER  LIV. 

PAGE 

THE  LACK  OF  FOOD  AND  THE  PRICES  IN  THE  CON 
FEDERACY  .........  .  ...........................  524 

The  Prisoners  from  the  Northern  Army  —  The  Confederates 
in  Northern  Prisons  —  Faithlessness  of  the  Federal  Govern 
ment—In  July,  1862,  Enormous  Quantities  of  Fractional 
Notes  Issued  —  The  Price  of  Gold  in  New  York  and  in  the 
Confederacy,  and  a  List  of  the  Prices  of  Food  and  Staples  in 
the  Latter  —  $350  for  a  Ham,  $12  for  a  Pound  of  Sugar,  etc.  — 
Price  Lists  —  Expenses  of  an  Officer  of  Artillery  en  route  for 
Richmond  —  Bill  of  Fare  at  the  Oriental,  Richmond,  524-535. 

CHAPTER  LV. 

EXCHANGE  OF  PRISONERS,  AND  ANDERSONVILLE  ____  536 

The  Sufferings  of  the  Men  of  the  South  on  Johnson's 
Island,  and  of  the  Men  of  the  North  at  Andersonville  —  The 
South  Hemmed  In  on  All  Sides—  The  "Pens"  Stragglers 
Amusing  Themselves  in  the  Rear  —  Dr.  Mann  in  the  August 
Century  —  Men  Put  in  Irons  —  President  Davis  Writes  to  Pres 
ident  Lincoln  —  President  Davis,  July  20,  1862,  in  Secret 
Session,  Recommends  a  Certain  Measure  to  Congress  —  Agree 
ment  as  to  the  Release  of  Prisoners  —  On  July  23d  a  Cartel 
Signed  by  Major-General  Hill  and  Major-General  Dix  —  The 
Day  After  Major-General  Dix  Directs  the  Murder  of  Peace 
ful  Citizens  —  Mr.  Davis  Issues  a  General  Order,  Recognizing 
Pope  and  his  Commissioned  Officers  Robbers  —  General  Lee 
the  Day  after  Gettysburg  —  He  Writes  to  General  Grant,  who 
Replies,  536-545  —  A  Despatch  from  General  Grant  to  Gen 
eral  Butler  —  Mr.  Davis  writes  in  Belford's  Magazine  January 
and  February,  1890—  The  Herald's  Correspondent—  Father 
Hagan  —  The  Richmond  Examiner  preaches  Retaliation  — 
Mr.  Davis  Writes  to  General  Crafts  I.  Wright  —  Extract  from 
Message  to  Confederate  Congress  —  Letter  from  General  Grant 
to  General  Halleck  —  Professor  Dabney,  of  the  University  of 
Virginia,  to  the  Editor  of  'The  Nation  —  "  A  Story  of  Horrors" 
—  "  In  a  Yankee  Prison  "—Written  for  the  Nashville  Amer* 


by  J.  B.  West — Comparative  Mortality  of  Federal  and 
Confederate  Prisons — The  New  York  Tribune  Adduces  the 
"  Logic  of  Facts" — The  Answer  to  the  Tribune  a  Curiosity 
— Mr.  Davis  Terribly  Affected  by  the  Death-rate,  545-574. 

CHAPTER  LVI. 
JOURNEY  TO  CHARLOTTE 575 

Darkness  Closing  Over  the  Confederacy  —  Mr.  Davis's 
Headquarters  to  be  in  the  Field,  575  ;  Sale  of  Household 
Goods — Going  Forth  into  the  Unknown,  576 ;  Depression 
upon  the  City — The  Pistol — "  You  can  Force  your  Assailants 
to  Kill  You"— All  Night  in  the  Train,  577  ;  Hardships  of  the 
Journey — Universal  Consternation — Mr.  A.  Weill's  Kindness 
— Established  in  Charlotte,  578. 

CHAPTER  LVII. 
NEARING  THE  END 579 

As  Hope  Died  Out  in  the  Breasts  of  Rank  and  File,  the 
President's  Courage  Rose — Calm  in  the  Contemplation  of 
Disaster  and  Death — Letter  to  General  Lee,  579 ;  Siege  of 
Petersburg  Hotly  Pressed — Battery  Gregg — 200  against  5,000 
—The  Fall  of  Fort  Gregg— Death  of  General  A.  P.  Hill 
While  Endeavoring  to  Join  his  Troops,  580;  General  Lee 
Telegraphs  that  he  Can  no  Longer  Hold  the  Lines  at  Peters 
burg — Evacuation  of  Petersburg,  581. 

CHAPTER  LVIII. 

THE  PRESIDENT'S  ACCOUNT  OF  THE  EVACUATION  OF 
RICHMOND 582 

General  Lee's  Telegram  Handed  to  Mr.  Davis  While  in 
Church,  Sunday,  April  2d  —  Heads  of  Departments  As 
sembled,  582  ;  Generous  Sympathy  and  Patriotic  Impulse — 
Affection  and  Confidence  of  the  People — Starting  for  Dan 
ville,  583  ;  How  Mr.  Davis  Bore  Defeat,  585 ;  Letter  of  M. 
H.  Clarke  to  Mrs.  Davis,  586-588. 


CONTENTS.  xxiii 

CHAPTER  LIX. 

PAGB 

SURRENDER  OF  LEE 589 

Lee's  Army  Marching  Toward  Amelia  Court  House — Re 
peated  Attacks — The  Army  Subsists  on  Young  Shoots  of 
Trees  and  Parched  Corn  — The  Retreat  Continued,  589; 
Attack  on  the  Rear  Guard ;  Capture  of  Generals  G.  W.  C. 
Lee,  Ewell,  and  Anderson,  590 ;  Meeting  of  Generals  Grant 
and  Lee — The  Interview  between  Lee  and  Grant,  592  ;  Gen 
eral  Lee's  Propositions — Terms  of  the  Surrender,  593-594  ; 
"  Uncle  Robert,  God  Help  You,  General !  "—Incident  Re 
lated  by  General  G.  W.  C.  Lee,  595 ;  Major  Walthall's  Let 
ter,  597. 

CHAPTER   LX. 
HONORABLE  MENTION ;. . .  598 

A  Glimpse  of  a  Few  Gallant  Figures,  598  ;  The  Young 
"  Murat  "  of  the  Cavalry,  599  ;  A  Long  List  of  Gallant  Men, 
603,  604  ;  General  Wade  Hampton,  a  Fit  Representative  of 
the  Chivalry  of  the  South,  604  ;  The  Meeting  of  General  Lee 
and  His  Son  on  the  Bloody  Field  of  Fredericksburg,  605. 

CHAPTER  LXI. 

THE  WASHINGTON  ARTILLERY  OF  NEW  ORLEANS  . .  606 
Death  Often  Faced— Well-brushed,  but  Threadbare  Uni 
forms,  606;  The  "Thin  Gray  Line,"  607;  Commander 
Wood's  Record — Capture  of  the  Reliance,  Satellite,  and  other 
Vessels — The  Atlanta,  608  ;  Captain  Wilkinson's  Deeds — 
Semmes,  Maffitt,  Pegram,  Maury,  Loyal,  and  Jones — Heros 
von  Borcke — Homage  of  Confederate  Women,  609. 

CHAPTER  LXII. 

LEAVING  CHARLOTTE — THE  RUMORS  OF  SURRENDER.  610 
111  News  that  Travels  Fast— The  Treasure  Train  of  the 
Confederacy,  610  ;  "  If  I  have  lost  my  leg  and  also  lost  my 
freedom,  I  am  miserable,  indeed  " — Calm  in  the  Expectation 
of  Great  Woe— Alarms— The  Little  Bride,  611  ;  Announce 
ment  Made  -to  Mr.  Davis,  at  Charlotte,  of  President  Lin- 


xxvi  CONTENTS. 

Davis  Been  Guilty  of  Such  Acts  of  Treason  that  he  Can  be 
Successfully  Prosecuted?"  —  Conclusion  that  Mr.  Davis 
Could  not  be  Convicted,  697  ;  No  Evidence  that  Mr.  Davis 
Was  Responsible  for  Andersonville  Prison,  698  ;  Mr.  Davis's 
Statement  of  the  Indignities  Suffered,  700-701. 

CHAPTER  LXIX. 

LETTERS  FROM  PRISON 703 

Letter  from  Mr.  Davis  to  Mrs.  Davis,  August  21,  1865 — 
Letters  Examined  by  the  United  States  Attorney-General, 
703  ;  Confidence  in  the  Shield  of  Innocence — Letter  to  Mrs. 
Davis,  September  15,  1865 — Letter  to  Mrs.  Davis,  Septem 
ber  26,  1865. 

CHAPTER  LXX. 
ACCOUNT  OF  JOURNEY  TO  SAVANNAH 708 

Letter  to  Dr.  Craven — Dread  of  Paralysis  for  Mr.  Davis, 
708  ;  The  Rough  Journey  of  Mrs.  Davis  and  Family  to  Sa 
vannah — The  Soldiers  Open  and  Rob  the  Trunks,  709  ;  Ar 
rival  at  the  Pulaski  House,  Savannah,  710  ;  Kind  Treatment 
in  Savannah,  711  ;  Discourteous  Action  of  the  General  in 
Command,  712  ;  Publication  of  the  Shackling  Scene  in  Mr. 
Davis's  Casemate,  in  the  Savannah  Republican — The  Chil 
dren's  Prayers  for  Their  Imprisoned  Father,  714;  Robert 
Proves  his  "  Equality,"  716  ;  Tender  of  the  Professional 
Services  of  William  B.  Reed,  of  Philadelphia,  719. 

CHAPTER  LXXI. 

LETTERS  FROM  PRISON 720 

From  Mr.  Davis  to  Mrs.  Davis,  October  n,  1865,  720; 
Slanders  as  to  Mr.  Davis's  Custody  of  Public  Funds,  721  ; 
Mr.  Davis's  Father  was  Impoverished  by  Losses  in  the  Rev 
olution,  722  ;  Jordan's  Critique,  724  ;  Description  of  Mr. 
Davis's  Prison,  726  ;  Mr.  Davis's  Uncertainty  as  to  the  Fate 
of  His  Letters  at  the  Hands  of  the  Authorities,  740. 


*xv 


CHAPTER    LXXII. 

PAGE 

LETTERS  FROM  FORTRESS  MONROE  .................  741 

From  Mr.  Davis  to  Mrs.  Davis,  January  16,  1866,  741  ; 
From  the  Same  to  the  Same,  January  24th  —  Improbable 
Stories  Told  of  Mr.  Stephens,  742  ;  Judge  Campbell's  In 
quiry,  743  ;  From  Mr.  Davis  to  Mrs.  Davis,  January  28th, 
745  ;  From  the  Same  to  the  Same,  February  3d,  747  ;  Mr. 
Davis  Hears  that  Mr.  Cass  is  Dying,  748  ;  A  Startling  Opti 
cal  Illusion  —  Hungry  for  the  Children's  Little  Faces,  749  ; 
From  President  Davis  to  Mrs.  Davis  —  Rendered  Almost 
Blind  by  Neuralgia  —  The  "Quadrilateral,"  750;  Letter 
of  March  I3th,  751  ;  Mr.  Davis's  Patience  —  Letter  of  March 
22d—  Letter  of  April  8th,  753  ;  "  Letter  from  My  Little  Pol 
ly  "  —  Mr.  Davis  to  Mrs.  Davis,  April  2ist,  754. 

CHAPTER  LXXIII. 

VISIT  TO   NEW  ORLEANS  AND  ADMISSION  TO  FOR 
TRESS  MONROE  ................................   756 

General  Wheeler  an  Employee  in  a  Hardware  Store  —  Mr. 
Payne's  Offers  of  Money  and  Service,  756  ;  Mrs.  Davis's 
Visit  to  New  York  City  —  Rumor  that  Mr.  Davis  was  Dying 
—  Mrs.  Davis  Arrives  at  Fortress  Monroe,  May  10,  1866,  757  ; 
Lieutenant  Fessenden  and  the  Baby  —  General  Miles  and 
"  Davis's  Good  Health"—  The  General's  Economy  of  Titles, 
758  ;  Mrs.  Davis  First  Sees  Her  Husband's  Shrunken  Form 
and  Glassy  Eyes  Through  Prison  Bars  —  Description  of  his 
Cell,  759  ;  "  Deadly  Weepons  "—The  Order  under  which 
Mr.  Davis  was  Put  in  Shackles,  761  ;  "  Mental  Ailment,'' 
762  ;  "  This  Fort  Shall  not  be  Made  a  Depot  for  Deli 
cacies  for  Jeff  Davis,"  765  ;  Fears  that  Mr.  Davis  Would 
not  Live  Through  the  Month,  767  ;  Application  to  Presi 
dent  Johnson  for  Some  Amelioration  of  Mr.  Davis's  Suffer 
ings  —  Mr.  Johnson's  Reply,  768  ;  Interview  with  the  Pres 
ident,  769  ;  Indictment  Procured  Against  Mr.  Davis,  May, 
1866  —  Mr.  Boutwell's  Motion  in  the  House,  776;  Efforts 
for  Mr.  Davis's  Trial  or  Unconditional  Discharge  —  Oppo- 


xxvi  CONTENTS. 

Davis  Been  Guilty  of  Such  Acts  of  Treason  that  he  Can  be 
Successfully  Prosecuted?"  —  Conclusion  that  Mr.  Davis 
Could  not  be  Convicted,  697  ;  No  Evidence  that  Mr.  Davis 
Was  Responsible  for  Andersonville  Prison,  698  ;  Mr.  Davis's 
Statement  of  the  Indignities  Suffered,  700-701. 

CHAPTER  LXIX. 

LETTERS  FROM  PRISON 703 

Letter  from  Mr.  Davis  to  Mrs.  Davis,  August  21,  1865 — 
Letters  Plxamined  by  the  United  States  Attorney-General, 
703  ;  Confidence  in  the  Shield  of  Innocence — Letter  to  Mrs. 
Davis,  September  15,  1865 — Letter  to  Mrs.  Davis,  Septem 
ber  26,  1865. 

CHAPTER  LXX. 

ACCOUNT  OF  JOURNEY  TO  SAVANNAH 708 

Letter  to  Dr.  Craven — Dread  of  Paralysis  for  Mr.  Davis, 
708  ;  The  Rough  Journey  of  Mrs.  Davis  and  Family  to  Sa 
vannah — The  Soldiers  Open  and  Rob  the  Trunks,  709  ;  Ar 
rival  at  the  Pulaski  House,  Savannah,  710  ;  Kind  Treatment 
in  Savannah,  711  ;  Discourteous  Action  of  the  General  in 
Command,  712  ;  Publication  of  the  Shackling  Scene  in  Mr. 
Davis's  Casemate,  in  the  Savannah  Republican — The  Chil 
dren's  Prayers  for  Their  Imprisoned  Father,  714;  Robert 
Proves  his  "Equality,"  716;  Tender  of  the  Professional 
Services  of  William  B.  Reed,  of  Philadelphia,  719. 

CHAPTER  LXXI. 
LETTERS  FROM  PRISON 720 

From  Mr.  Davis  to  Mrs.  Davis,  October  11,  1865,  720; 
Slanders  as  to  Mr.  Davis's  Custody  of  Public  Funds,  721  ; 
Mr.  Davis's  Father  was  Impoverished  by  Losses  in  the  Rev 
olution,  722  ;  Jordan's  Critique,  724  ;  Description  of  Mr. 
Davis's  Prison,  726 ;  Mr.  Davis's  Uncertainty  as  to  the  Fate 
of  His  Letters  at  the  Hands  of  the  Authorities,  740. 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER    LXXII. 

PAGE 

LETTERS  FROM  FORTRESS  MONROE 741 

From  Mr.  Davis  to  Mrs.  Davis,  January  16,  1866,  741  ; 
From  the  Same  to  the  Same,  January  24th — Improbable 
Stories  Told  of  Mr.  Stephens,  742  ;  Judge  Campbell's  In 
quiry,  743  ;  From  Mr.  Davis  to  Mrs.  Davis,  January  28th, 
745  ;  From  the  Same  to  the  Same,  February  3d,  747  ;  Mr. 
Davis  Hears  that  Mr.  Cass  is  Dying,  748  ;  A  Startling  Opti 
cal  Illusion — Hungry  for  the  Children's  Little  Faces,  749  ; 
From  President  Davis  to  Mrs.  Davis — Rendered  Almost 
Blind  by  Neuralgia  —  The  "Quadrilateral,"  750;  Letter 
of  March  I3th,  751  ;  Mr.  Davis's  Patience — Letter  of  March 
22d— Letter  of  April  8th,  753  ;  "  Letter  from  My  Little  Pol 
ly  " — Mr.  Davis  to  Mrs.  Davis,  April  2ist,  754. 


CHAPTER  LXXIII. 

VISIT  TO   NEW  ORLEANS  AND  ADMISSION  TO  FOR 
TRESS  MONROE 756 

General  Wheeler  an  Employee  in  a  Hardware  Store — Mr. 
Payne's  Offers  of  Money  and  Service,  756  ;  Mrs.  Davis's 
Visit  to  New  York  City — Rumor  that  Mr.  Davis  was  Dying 
— Mrs.  Davis  Arrives  at  Fortress  Monroe,  May  10,  1866,  757  ; 
Lieutenant  Fessenden  and  the  Baby — General  Miles  and 
"  Davis's  Good  Health"— The  General's  Economy  of  Titles, 
758  ;  Mrs.  Davis  First  Sees  Her  Husband's  Shrunken  Form 
and  Glassy  Eyes  Through  Prison  Bars — Description  of  his 
Cell,  759 ;  "  Deadly  Weepons  "—The  Order  under  which 
Mr.  Davis  was  Put  in  Shackles,  761  ;  "  Mental  Ailment,'' 
762  ;  "  This  Fort  Shall  not  be  Made  a  Depot  for  Deli 
cacies  for  Jeff  Davis,"  765  ;  Fears  that  Mr.  Davis  Would 
not  Live  Through  the  Month,  767  ;  Application  to  Presi 
dent  Johnson  for  Some  Amelioration  of  Mr.  Davis's  Suffer 
ings — Mr.  Johnson's  Reply,  768  ;  Interview  with  the  Pres 
ident,  769  ;  Indictment  Procured  Against  Mr.  Davis,  May, 
1866 — Mr.  Boutwell's  Motion  in  the  House,  776;  Efforts 
for  Mr,  Davis's  Trial  or  Unconditional  Discharge — Oppo- 


xxviii 


sition  on  the  Part  of  the  Authorities  to  Mr.  Davis's  Trial  — 
Efforts  to  Secure  his  Release  on  Bond,  777  ;  Interview  with 
Mr.  Stanton,  779,  780  ;  Horace  Greeley  as  One  of  Mr.  Da- 
vis's  Bondsmen—  Mr.  Shea's  Letter,  780-789  ;  The  Tribune 
Articles,  784  ;  The  $100,000  Paid  for  Mr.  Davis's  Arrest, 

786  ;    Mr.    Wilson's   Remarkable    Resolution   in   Congress, 

787  ;  Mr.  Davis  Delivered  to  the  Civil  Authority  and  Ad 
mitted  to  Bail,  May  14,  1867  —  Commodore  Vanderbilt  Signs 
the  Bond  Through  Horace  F.   Clark  and  Augustus  Schell, 
788;  "The  Trial  of  Mr.   Jefferson  Davis,   Richmond,  De 
cember  3d,  1867,"  790-794  ;    Departure  from  Fortress  Mon 
roe,  794  ;  "  Hats  Off,  Virginians,"  795. 


CHAPTER   LXXIV. 
AFTER  RELEASE  IN  1867,  TO  1870 796 

Pecuniary  Prostration,  796;  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Davis  Rejoin 
Their  Children  in  Canada — Mr.  Davis's  Visit  to  Toronto  and 
Niagara,  797  ;  Mr.  Davis's  Recognition  of  the  Necessity  of 
Preparing  a. History  of  the  Confederacy — Letter  to  General 
R.  E.  Lee,  798  ;  Death  of  Mrs.  Davis's  Mother,  800 ;  Nolle 
Prosequi  in  Mr.  Davis's  Case,  800,  801  ;  Return  to  New  Or 
leans,  via  Havana,  803  ;  Welcome  at  New  Orleans — The 
Incident  of  the  Methodist  Minister — At  Lennoxville,  804  ; 
Accident  to  Mr.  Davis— Threat  of  the  Spy's  Father,  805  ; 
Visit  to  Europe,  806 ;  English  Hospitality,  Incidents,  and 
Impressions,  807,  808  ;  At  Paris,  Courtesy  of  the  Emperor 
and  Empress,  809  ;  Mr.  Davis's  Continued  Ill-health — Jour 
ney  to  Scotland,  810  ;  Return  to  the  United  States,  811-812. 


CHAPTER   LXXV. 

REASONS  FOR  NOT  ASKING   PARDON  —  MISSISSIPPI 
VALLEY  SOCIETY 814 

Death  of  William  Howell  Davis — A  Heavy  Blow  to  Mr. 
Davis,  814  ;  Lawsuit  to  Recover  Brierfield  Plantation — De 
clining  Health — Visit  to  England,  815. 


CONTENTS.  xxix 


CHAPTER  LXXVI. 

PAGE 

UNWILLINGNESS  TO  ASK  PARDON — MISSISSIPPI  ANX 
IOUS  TO  SEND  HIM  TO  THE  SENATE' 816 

The  Policy  of  Reconstruction — A  Form  Instituted  for  Hu 
miliation,  816  ;  Mr.  Davis's  Endeavors  to  Preserve  Silence 
About  Everything  Political— No  Change  of  Belief,  817  ;  Con 
fidence  of  the  People  of  Mississippi — Exclusion  a  Test  Ques 
tion-—  "  Too  old  to  serve  you  as  I  once  did,"  8 1 8. 


CHAPTER  LXXVII. 

THE  WRECK  OF  THE  PACIFIC— THE  MISSISSIPPI  VAL 
LEY  SOCIETY ; —  . .  819 

Old  Age  Coming  on  Apace — Captain  Howell's  Gallant 
Conduct  in  Saving  the  Los  Angeles — Resolution  of  Thanks 
by  the  Passengers,  819,  820  ;  Captain  Howell  Appointed  to 
the  Old  Pacific — The  Collision  of  a  Sailing-vessel  with  the 
Pacific — "  Chief,  I  will  go  down  with  her  "—On  the  Raft> 
821  ;  Death  of  Captain  Howell — The  Last  to  Leave  the  Ship, 
a  Young,  Noble,  and  Chivalrous  Gentleman,  822  ;  Organi 
zation  of  the  English  and  Southern  Mississippi  Valley  So 
ciety — Marriage  of  Miss  Margaret  to  Mr.  J.  A.  Hayes,  823. 


CHAPTER  LXXVIII. 

THE  COMMENCEMENT  AND  COMPLETION  OF  THE 
"  RISE  AND  FALL  OF  THE  CONFEDERATE  STATES 
OF  AMERICA" — THE  DEATH  OF  JEFFERSON  DAVIS, 
JR.— HONORS  AWARDED  BY  MR.  DAVIS'S  COUN 
TRYMEN 825 

How  the  Work  was  Written — Yellow  Fever  at  Memphis 
and  New  Orleans — Death  of  the  Last  of  Mr.  Davis's  Sons- 
Crushed  by  the  Blow,  825-828  ;  Mr.  Davis's  Visit  to  Ala 
bama — Indescribable  Enthusiasm — "  The  Daughter  of  the 
Confederacy,"  831  ;  Veterans'  Day — Heart  Failure  and  Im 
minent  Danger,  832. 


xxx  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER  LXXIX. 

PACK 

GENERAL  SHERMAN'S  ACCUSATIONS 833 

General  Sherman's  Observations  in  the  St.  Louis  Globe- 
Democrat — Mr.  Davis's  Letter  of  Denial  to  the  St.  Louis  Re 
publican,  833-835  ;  Senator  Vance's  Statement,  836-837  ; 
Mr.  Davis  to  Mr.  Vance — Mr.  Davis's  Letter  of  November 
n,  1862,  836-839  ;  Account  of  General  Sherman's  Letter  to 
the  Senate— The  Debate,  840-844 ;  Mr.  Davis's  Letter  to  a 
Senator,  845-847. 

CHAPTER  LXXX. 

GENERAL  JOSEPH  E.  JOHNSTON  AND  THE  CONFED 
ERATE  TREASURE 848 

General  Johnston's  Statement  to  Colonel  Frank  Burr, 
848 ;  Intimation  of  Dishonest  Handling  of  Confederate 
Treasure  on  the  Part  of  Mr.  Davis— Refusal  to  Read  Colonel 
Burr's  Report  of  the  Conversation  Before  Printing — History 
of  the  Case,  849 ;  Mr.  Davis's  Order  to  Mr.  J.  N.  Hendren 
— Quotation  from  Mr.  Johnston's  "  Narrative,"  850-851; 
Letter  of  Colonel  Anderson  to  Mr.  Davis — Mr.  Davis  to  C. 
J.  Wright,  852-854 ;  Article  in  the  Philadelphia  Press— In 
dignation  of  the  South  at  General  Johnston's  Charges,  854- 
857  ;  General  Johnston's  Letter  to  the  Press,  858  ;  Frank  A. 
Burr  to  Jefferson  Davis,  859-863  ;  Letter  of  Hon.  John  H. 
Reagan,  863-865  ;  General  Beauregard's  Statement  to  the 
New  Orleans  Picayune,  865-866  ;  Captain  M.  H.  Clark's 
Statement  in  the  Louisville  Courier- Journal,  866-877  ;  Let 
ter  of  William  Preston  Johnston  to  General  Joseph  R.  Davis, 
878-881. 

CHAPTER  LXXXI. 

THE  PROHIBITION  ISSUE  ... 882 

Mr.  Davis's  Repose  Greatly  Disturbed  by  the  Question  of 
Prohibition  in  Texas,  882  ;  Mr.  Davis's  Letter  to  Colonel  F. 
R.  Lubbock,  882-886  ;  Letter  Arouses  Antagonism  of  Parti 
sans  of  Prohibition,  and  Results  in  the  Defeat  of  Prohibition 


CONTENTS.  xxxi 

at  the  Polls,  886 ;  Letter  to  Rev.  W.  M.  Leftwich,  887-890 ; 
Attack  upon  Mr.  Davis  by  the  Methodist  Bishop  and  Clergy 
— Mr.  Davis  Felt  Himself  Wantonly  Misrepresented,  895. 

CHAPTER  LXXXII. 

THE  EAST  INDIA  FLEET 896 

Mr.  Davis's  Alleged  Failure  to  Purchase  the  East  India 
Fleet — "Military  Operations  of  General  Beauregard  " — 
Judge  Roman's  Statements,  896 ;  Mr.  Trenholm's  Observa 
tions  to  General  Beauregard — Alleged  Interview  with  Gen 
eral  Beauregard,  published  in  the  New  York  Sun,  897- 
898 ;  Mr.  Trenholm  to  Mr.  Davis,  and  Mr.  Davis's  Reply, 
899;  Mr.  C.  G.  Memminger's  Letter  to  Mr.  Davis — Mr. 
Davis  Made  a  Member  of  the  Kappa  Sigma  Society  of  Bow- 
doin  College,  905. 

CHAPTER  LXXXIII. 

GENERAL  RANSOM'S  REMINISCENCES  OF  MR.  DAVIS.  .  906 
General  Ransom  First  Meets  Mr.  Davis,  then  Secretary  of 
War,  July  5,  1856  ;  Story  of  the  Young  Kentuckian— "  If  he 
voluntarily  casts  his  lot  with  the  Southern  States  he  shall 
have  recognition,"  908  ;  The  First  Full  Regiment  of  Cavalry 
in  Richmond,  October,  1861— "If  We  had  had  this  Reg 
iment  at  Manassas,  Washington  would  have  been  Ours," 
909 ;  An  Hour  to  Try  Every  Confederate  Present — Mr. 
Davis  was  on  the  Field — Calm,  Self-contained,  Cheerful, 
and  Hopeful — Mr.  Davis's  Familiarity  with  the  Topography 
of  Richmond  and  Environs,  911  ;  "  Grumble  Jones  "  Killed, 
912  ;  Dr.  Wheat's  Opinion  of  Mr.  Davis,  915  ;  An  Incident 
of  Willie  and  his  Friends,  916. 

CHAPTER  LXXXIV. 

MR.  DAVIS'S  CHARACTERISTICS 918 

Mr.  Davis's  Genial  Satire — His  Sense  of  the  Ludicrous  ; 
His  Powers  of  Observation,  918  ;  Facsimile  of  a  Letter  Ap 
pealing  for  Mr.  Davis's  Help,  922 ;  Mr.  Davis's  Sincere  and 


xxxii  .CONTENTS. 

Unostentatious  Piety,  his  Unswerving  Mental  and  Moral 
Integrity,  his  Courage  and  Devotion  to  Principles,  923 ; 
Pqem  by  Mrs.  Mary  A.  Greer,  924 ;  Would  have  been 
President  of  the  United  States,  had  he  been  Recreant  to 
his  Principles,  925. 

CHAPTER  LXXXV. 

THE  END  OF  A  NOBLE  LIFE,  AND  A  NATION'S  SOR 
ROW  OVER  ITS  Loss 926 

He  Retained  his  Soldierly  Carriage  to  the  Last — His 
Mind  Wonderfully  Alert — His  Immense  Correspondence, 
926;  "  I  have  much  to  do,  but  if  it  is  God's  will  I  must 
submit"  —  "I  want  to  tell  you  I  am  not  afraid  to  die," 
931 ;  His  Death — Many  Thousands  Passed  Weeping  by  his 
Bier — Governors  of  Nine  States  Bear  him  to  his  Rest,  932  ; 
The  Old  Slaves'  Letter,  933  ;  Thornton  Montgomery's  Let 
ter  to  Miss  Varina,  934;  The  New  York  World's  Eulogium 
upon  Mr.  Davis— The  Sun's  Tribute— Mr.  James  Redpath's 
Admiration,  935  ;  "  He  conquered  himself  and  forgave  his 
enemies,  but  he  bent  to  none  but  his  God,"  937  ;  "  Clarus 
et  Vir  Fortissimus," 


JEFFERSON    DAVIS. 


CHAPTER    I. 

FROM   WASHINGTON   TO   MISSISSIPPI. 

THE  task  of  relating  my  husband's  life  in 
the  Confederacy  is  approached  with  anxious 
diffidence,  but  it  must  be  fairly  set  forth  for 
his  justification.  I  am  unwilling  needlessly 
to  antagonize  any  part  of  the  country,  but 
love  my  own  with  devotion  proportionate  to 
the  great  sacrifices  made  in  its  behalf.  The 
memories  of  the  Confederacy,  its  triumphs, 
its  decadence,  and  fall,  are  proud,  and  very 
bitter.  If  in  dwelling  upon  the  splendid  gal 
lantry  of  our  soldiers,  the  cheerful  endurance 
and  unwonted  labor  of  all  classes  of  our  wo 
men,  or  the  barbarities  practised  upon  us, 
both  before  and  after  the  subjugation  of  our 
country,  I  speak  plainly,  it  is  because  my 
memory  furnishes  data  which  the  deliberate 
judgment  of  my  old  age  does  not  contradict, 
and  the  anguish  is  a  living  pain  which  years 
have  done  little  to  soothe,  and  from  which  the 


2  JEFFERSON  DAVIS. 

desire  for  recrimination,  or  even  for  revenge, 
is  totally  absent. 

One  of  the  most  patriotic,  humane,  and  be 
nevolent  of  men  has  been  portrayed  as  a  mon 
ster  of  ambition  and  cruelty,  and  the  mistaken 
policy  of  silence  under  these  accusations  has 
fixed  upon  the  minds  of  right  and  fair-minded 
opponents  their  belief  in  the  truth  of  the  alle 
gations.  Here,  before  a  jury  of  his  peers  and 
the  world,  I  would  present  his  case  as  he 
stated  it,  and  with  it  contemporary  testimony. 
This  proof  impartially  weighed  will  show  him 
to  have  honorably  and  religiously  lived,  and 
fearlessly  died.  His  services  to  his  country 
were  many  and  brilliant ;  to  it  he  sacrificed 
his  ambitions,  his  prosperity,  his  time,  health, 
and  happiness.  He  gave  his  all — and  since 
he  enjoyed  the  love  and  confidence  of  eight 
millions  of  our  own  people,  "  verily  great  was 
his  reward." 

"During  the  interval,"  wrote  Mr.  Davis, 
"  between  the  announcement  by  telegraph  of 
the  secession  of  Mississippi  and  the  receipt  of 
the  official  notification  which  enabled  me  to 
withdraw  from  the  Senate,  rumors  were  in 
circulation  of  a  purpose,  on  the  part  of  the 
United  States  Government,  to  arrest  members 
of  Congress  preparing  to  leave  Washington 
on  account  of  the  secession  of  the  States 


FROM  WASHINGTON  TO  MISSISSIPPI.          3 

which  they  represented.  This  threat  received 
little  attention  from  those  most  concerned. 
Indeed,  it  was  thought  that  it  might  not  be  an 
undesirable  mode  of  testing  the  question  of 
the  right  of  a  State  to  withdraw  from  the 
Union."  * 

"  No  attempt  was  made,  however,  to  arrest 
any  of  the  retiring  members  ;  and,  after  a 
delay  of  a  few  days,  spent  in  necessary  prep 
arations,  I  left  Washington  for  Mississippi, 
passing  through  Southwestern  Virginia,  East 
Tennessee,  a  small  part  of  Georgia,  and  North 
Alabama.  A  deep  interest  in  the  events 
which  had  recently  occurred  was  exhibited  by 
the  people  of  these  States,  and  much  anxiety 
was  indicated  as  to  the  future.  Many  years 
of  agitation  had  made  them  familiar  with  the 
ideas  of  separation.  Nearly  two  generations 
had  risen  to  manhood  since  it  had  begun  to  be 


*Mr.  Davis  remained  a  week  in  Washington,  hoping  that  he 
might  be  the  person  arrested.  A  part  of  this  time  he  was  ill  and 
confined  to  his  bed.  To  him  came  Commodore  Shubrick,  Captain 
Semmes,  General  Floyd,  Colonel  Chesnut,  Senator  Wigfall,  C.  C. 
Clay,  and  others  too  numerous  to  mention,  as  Southern  men  anxious 
about  the  fate  of  their  country.  I  did  not  hear  the  conversations  or 
know  the  purport  of  them  from  my  husband,  but  was  pained  to  see 
the  deep  depression  under  which  he  labored.  The  only  time  he  ever 
seemed  cheerful  was  when  he  spoke  of  his  hope  that  the  moderation 
of  the  President  and  his  advisers  would  restrain  the  ardor  of  the 
anti-slavery  men.  "  If  they  will  give  me  time,"  he  said,  "  all  is  not 
lost ;  violence  on  one  side  and  extreme  measures  of  wrong  on  the 
other  now,  will  dissolve  the  Union."  And  by  telegrams  and  letters  to 
every  Southern  State  he  endeavored  to  postpone  their  action. 


4  JEFFERSON  DAVIS. 

discussed  as  a  possible  alternative.  Few,  very 
few,  of  the  Southern  people  had  ever  regarded 
it  as  a  desirable  event,  or  otherwise  than  as 
a  last  resort  for  escape  from  evils  more  in 
tolerable.  It  was  a  calamity  which,  however 
threatened,  they  still  hoped  might  be  averted, 
or  indefinitely  postponed,  and  they  had  re 
garded  with  contempt,  rather  than  anger,  the 
ravings  of  a  party  in  the  North,  which  de 
nounced  the  Constitution  and  the  Union,  and 
persistently  defamed  their  brethren  of  the 
South. 

"  Now,  however,  as  well  in  Virginia  and 
Tennessee,  neither  of  which  had  yet  se 
ceded,  as  in  the  more  southern  States  which 
had  already  taken  that  step,  the  danger  so 
often  prophesied  was  perceived  to  be  at  the 
door,  and  eager  inquiries  were  made  as  to 
what  would  happen  next,  especially  as  to  the 
probability  of  war  between  the  States. 

"  The  course  which  events  were  likely  to 
take  was  shrouded  in  the  greatest  uncertainty. 
In  the  minds  of  many  there  was  not  the  un 
reasonable  hope  (which  had  been  expressed 
by  the  Commissioner  sent  from  Mississippi  to 
Maryland)  that  the  secession  of  six  Southern 
States — certainly  soon  to  be  followed  by  that 
of  others,  would  so  arouse  the  sober  thought 
and  better  feeling  of  the  Northern  people  as 
to  compel  their  representatives  to  agree  to 


FROM   WASHINGTON   TO  MISSISSIPPI.          5 

a  Convention  of  the  States,  and  that  such 
guarantees  would  be  given  as  would  secure 
to  the  South  the  domestic  tranquillity  and 
equality  in  the  Union  which  were  rights 
assured  under  the  Federal  compact.  There 
were  others,  and  they  the  most  numerous 
class,  who  considered  that  the  separation 
would  be  final,  but  peaceful.  For  my  part, 
while  believing  that  secession  was  a  right, 
and,  properly,  a  peaceable  remedy,  I  had 
never  believed  that  it  would  be  permitted  to 
be  peaceably  exercised.  Very  few  in  the 
South,  at  that  time,  agreed  with  me,  and  my 
answers  to  queries  on  the  subject  were, 
therefore,  as  unexpected  as  they  were  unwel 
come." 

To  wrench  oneself  from  the  ties  of  fifteen 
years  is  a  most  distressing  effort.  Our 
friends  had  entered  into  our  joys  and  sorrows 
with  unfailing  sympathy.  We  had  shared 
their  anxieties  and  seen  their  children  grow 
from  infancy  to  adolescence.  To  bid  them 
farewell,  perhaps  to  meet  in  the  near  future 
with  a  ''great  gulf  between  us,"  was,  "  death 
in  life."  Mr.  Davis  was  resigning  an  office 
which,  of  all  others,  was  the  most  congenial  to 
his  taste,  and  conducive  to  the  increase  of  his 
reputation.  He  anticipated  a  long  and  ex 
hausting  war,  and  knew  that  his  property  in 
cotton  planting  would  be  utterly  destroyed  in 


6  JEFFERSON  DAVIS. 

the  course  of  the  impending  conflict.  Deeply 
depressed  and  supremely  anxious,  he  made 
his  preparations  to  go  home. 

We  left  Washington  "  exceeding  sorrow 
ful,"  and  took  our  three  little  children  with 
us.  As  we  came  into  the  Southern  States  the 
people  surrounded  the  train  at  every  little 
hamlet,  and  called  Mr.  Davis  out.  Wherever 
we  stayed  long  enough,  he  told  them  to  pre 
pare  for  a  long  and  bloody  war,  and  tried  to 
impress  them  with  the  gravity  of  the  occa 
sion.  After  many  short  speeches,  he  became 
very  much  exhausted  from  the  constant  exer 
tion.  When  the  conductor  noticed  it  he  said, 
."  Never  mind,  when  we  stop  at  the  next  two 
or  three  stations  I  will  blow  off  steam  at 
'  My  friends  and  fellow-citizens/  and  go  off 
at  once  ;  "  and  so  he  did,  much  to  the  disgust 
of  the  crowd. 

We  proceeded  without  accident  until  we 
reached  the  Crutchfield  House,  at  Chatta 
nooga.  There  a  crowd  was  gathered,  among 
whom  was  the  cordial  proprietor,  the  elder 
Crutchfield.  While  the  supper  was  being 
prepared,  a  speech  was  called  for.  Mr. 
Crutchfield's  brother  was  a  Union  man,  and 
had  been  drinking.  He  began  a  violent  ti 
rade  against  Mr.  Davis.  He  had  twelve  or 
thirteen  people  with  him  who  seemed  to  be 
his  companions  in  jollity,  but  who  did  not  par- 


FROM   WASHINGTON   TO  MISSISSIPPI.          7 

take  of  his  irritation.  He  offered  to  resent 
personally  anything  Mr.  Davis  might  say. 
The  excitement  became  intense.  The  office 
was  in  one  corner  of  a  large,  unfurnished 
room.  News  of  the  disturbance  was  brought 
to  me,  and  I  went  into  the  room.  The  ex 
citement  was  at  its  highest  pitch.  A  rough 
man  sitting  on  a  barrel  said  to  a  negro  near 
him,  "  Tell  that  lady  she  need  not  be  uneasy, 
Jeff  Davis  ain't  afraid.  He  will  make  his 
speech."  Mr.  Davis  proceeded  at  once  to 
make  the  address  for  which  the  crowd  called, 
and  his  audience  closed  around  him  with  ex 
pressions  of  affectionate  respect.  The  dis 
turber  of  the  peace  was  "  hustled  out."  The 
interruption  lasted  about  ten  minutes.  Much 
has  been  made  of  this  scene,  but  it  was  mere 
ly  the  vagary  of  a  drunken  man,  for  which  his 
brother  apologized.  . 

As  soon  as  we  reached  Mississippi,  man 
after  man  boarded  the  train  and  accompanied 
us  to  Jackson,  until  nearly  a  brigade  was  on 
the  cars.  The  Governor  and  the  State  au 
thorities  met  Mr.  Davis  informally,  and  went 
with  him  to  a  boarding-house  kept  by  an  old 
lady  of  wonderful  acumen,  named  Dixon, 
whose  husband  had  been  a  member  of  Con 
gress.  She  knew  intimately  every  man  of 
prominence  in  the  State,  and  had  no  little 
political  influence.  We  were  rendered  very 


8  JEFFERSON  DAVIS. 

anxious  by  the  accounts  she  gave  of  the  state 
of  excitement  pervading  everyone  ;  there  was 
no  rest  anywhere . 

At  Jackson,  Mr.  Davis  found  his  commis 
sion  from  Governor  I.  I.  Pettus,  as  Major- 
General  of  the  forces  of  Mississippi,  dated 
January  25,  1861.  Then  began  the  business 
of  making  provisions  for  arms,  and  for  the  or 
ganization  and  discipline  of  the  forces  of  Mis 
sissippi.  Governor  Pettus  came  to  Mr.  Davis 
to  consult  about  the  purchase  of  arms.  He 
thought  75,000  stand  would  be  sufficient. 
Again  Mr.  Davis  was  very  emphatic,  say 
ing,  "The  limit  of  our  purchases  should  be 
our  power  to  pay.  We  shall  need  all  and 
many  more  than  we  can  get,  I  fear."  Gov 
ernor  Pettus,  once  or  more  during  the  con 
ference,  remarked,  "  General,  you  overrate 
the  risk:" 

There  were  hundreds  coming  to  and  fro 
during  the  week  of  our  stay,  and  on  nearly 
every  occasion  a  warning  was  given  to  pre 
pare,  by  rigid  economy  and  by  the  establish 
ment  of  such  small  factories  as  were  practi 
cable,  to  supply  the  domestic  needs  of  those 
who  remained  at  home,  and  to  take  every 
other  means  of  making  the  South  indepen 
dent  ;  for  a  great  war  was  impending  over 
the  country,  "of  which  no  man  could  foresee 
the  end." 


FROM  WASHINGTON   TO  MISSISSIPPI.          9 

Mr.  Davis  wrote  thus  of  his  arrival  in  Jack 
son  : 

"  On  my  arrival  at  Jackson,  the  capital  of 
Mississippi,  I  found  that  the  Convention  of 
the  State  had  made  provision  for  a  State 
army,  and  had  appointed  me  to  the  command, 
with  the  rank  of  Major-General.  Four  briga 
dier-generals,  appointed  in  like  manner  by  the 
Convention,  were  awaiting  my  arrival  for  as 
signment  to  duty.  After  the  preparation  of 
the  necessary  rules  and  regulations,  the  divi 
sion  of  the  State  into  districts,  the  apportion 
ment  among  them  of  the  troops  to  be  raised, 
and  the  appointment  of  officers  of  the  general 
staff,  as  authorized  by  the  ordinance  of  the 
Convention,  such  measures  as  were  practi 
cable  were  taken  to  obtain  necessary  arms. 
The  State  had  few  serviceable  weapons,  and 
no  establishment  for  their  manufacture  or  re 
pair.  This  fact  (which  is  as  true  of  other 
Southern  States  as  of  Mississippi)  is  a  clear 
proof  of  the  absence  of  any  desire  or  expec 
tation  of  war.  If  the  purpose  of  the  North 
ern  States  to  make  war  upon  us  because  of 
secession  had  been  foreseen,  preparations 
to  meet  the  consequences  would  have  been 
contemporaneous  with  the  adoption  of  a  re 
sort  to  that  remedy — a  remedy  the  possibil 
ity  of  which  had  for  many  years  been  contem 
plated.  Had  the  Southern  States  possessed 


io  JEFFERSON  DAVIS. 

arsenals  and  collected  in  them  the  requisite 
supplies  of  arms  and  ammunition,  such  prep 
arations  would  not  only  have  placed  them 
more  nearly  on  an  equality  with  the  North  in 
the  beginning  of  the  war,  but  might,  perhaps, 
have  been  the  best  conservator  of  peace. 

"  Let  us,  the  survivors,  however,  not  fail  to 
do  credit  to  the  generous  credulity  which 
could  not  understand  how,  in  violation  of  the 
compact  of  Union,  a  war  could  be  waged 
against  the  States,  or  why  they  should  be  in 
vaded  because  their  people  had  deemed  it 
necessary  to  withdraw  from  an  association 
which  had  failed  to  fulfil  the  ends  for  which 
they  had  entered  into  it,  and  which,  having 
been  broken  to  their  injury  by  the  other  par 
ties,  had  ceased  to  be  binding  upon  them." 

He  was  deeply  distressed  by  the  temper  of 
the  people.  Time  and  again,  when  visitors 
left  the  room,  Mr.  Davis  ejaculated,  "  God 
help  us,  war  is  a  dreadful  calamity  even  when 
it  is  made  against  aliens  and  strangers.  They 
know  not  what  they  do." 

At  the  end  of  the  week  we  returned  to 
Briarfield,  and  then  my  husband  began  to 
make  provisions  for  a  long  absence. 

He  advised  with  the  older  negroes  about 
the  care  of  their  families,  urged  them  to  look 
after  the  old  and  helpless,  and  interrogated 
old  Bob,  the  oldest  man  on  the  place,  as  to 


FROM   WASHINGTON   TO  MISSISSIPPI.        \\ 

the  comforts  he  thought  he  might  need.  I 
remember  his  study  of  the  best  rocking-chairs 
for  Bob  and  his  wife  Rhinah.  Mr.  Davis 
bought  him  cochineal  flannel  for  his  rheuma 
tism,  and  furnished  an  extraordinary  number 
of  blankets  for  the  old  couple.* 

In  one  of  his  conversations  with  the  more 
dependable  of  the  men,  he  said  :  "  You  may 
have  to  defend  your  mistress  and  her  children, 
and  I  feel  I  may  trust  you." 

Mr.  Davis  was  so  careworn  and  unhappy 
that  when  we  were  alone  it  was  piteous  to  see 
him.  He  never  gave  up  the  hope  of  an  ad 
justment  and  a  peaceful  reunion  with  the 
North  until  the  first  blood  was  spilled.  He 
slept  little  and  talked  nearly  all  night.  In  one 
of  these  conversations  I  asked  the  question, 
how  he  thought  the  contending  sections  could 
be  pacified.  He  said  "  a  guarantee  of  our 
equal  rights  would  bring  the  whole  country 
back  to-morrow."  He  then  spoke  of  a  dual 
presidency,  but  did  not  think  the  scheme  prac 
ticable.  He  said,  "  In  any  case,  I  think  our 
slave  property  will  be  lost  eventually,"  and 
then  went  on  to  speak  of  the  cordon  of  cus 
tom-houses  which  would  be  needful,  if  a  com- 

*  When  the  Federal  soldiers  took  his  furniture,  flannel,  and  other 
comforts  at  the  sacking  of  our  plantation,  they  said,  in  answer  to 
Bob's  remonstrance,  that  they  did  not  believe  he  had  received  so 
many  things  from  us,  he  must  have  stolen  them. 


12  JEFFERSON  DAVIS. 

mercial  treaty  of  free  trade  could  not  be  made, 
and  of  the  immense  standing  army  that  would 
necessarily  deplete  the  resources  of  the  coun 
try  if  the  slaves  were  still  to  be  kept  in  bond 
age.  He  went  on  to  say  that  our  swamp 
lands,  he  feared,  could  not  be  cultivated  by 
white  men.  They  were  the  most  fertile  lands 
in  the  country,  but  they  must,  he  feared,  lie  fal 
low.  That  rivers  were  bad  boundaries,  and 
must  necessarily  constitute  ours.  He  wound 
up,  generally,  by  saying,  "  Let  us  pray  for 
that  peace  on  earth  and  good-will  to  men  that 
is  needful  for  prosperity  and  happiness."  This 
expression  is  copied  from  one  of  his  letters  at 
this  time,  and  I  heard  the  invocation  many 
times  during  and  before  the  war. 

We  both  congratulated  ourselves  that  he 
was  to  be  in  the  field.  I  thought  his  genius 
was  military,  but  that,  as  a  party  manager,  he 
would  not  succeed.  He  did  not  know  the 
arts  of  the  politician,  and  would  not  practise 
them  if  understood,  and  he  did  know  those 
of  war. 


CHAPTER   II. 

ELECTION  AS  PRESIDENT. 

THE  Convention  of  the  seceding  States 
was  held  at  Montgomery,  Alabama,  on  Feb 
ruary  4,  1 86 1.  It  was  composed  of  delegates 
legally  appointed.  Their  first  work  was  to 
prepare  a  provisional  Constitution  for  the 
new  Confederacy,  to  be  formed  of  the  States 
which  had  withdrawn  from  the  Union,  for 
which  the  style  "  Confederate  States  of 
America "  was  adopted.  The  powers  con 
ferred  upon  them  were  adequate  for  the  per 
formance  of  this  duty,  the  immediate  neces 
sity  for  which  was  obvious  and  urgent.  This 
Constitution  was  adopted  on  February  8th, 
to  continue  in  force  for  one  year,  unless  su 
perseded  at  an  earlier  date  by  a  permanent 
organization.  It  was  modelled  on  the  Con 
stitution  of  the  United  States. 

The  Constitution  was  copied  from  the  one 
the  Confederates  had  just  relinquished,  to 
those  who  neither  respected  nor  held  its  pro 
visions  sacred.  Guided  by  experience,  some 
stronger  and  more  explicit  clauses  were  inter 
polated.  Instead  of  "  We,  the  People  of  the 


I4  JEFFERSON  DAVIS. 

United  States,"  etc.,  "  We,  the  People  of  the 
Confederate  States,  each  State  acting  in  its 
sovereign  and  independent  character,  in  order 
to  form  a  permanent  Federal  Government," 
was  substituted.  The  old  Constitution  pro 
vided  that  "  the  Congress  may  at  any  time,  by 
law,  make  or  alter  such  regulations,"  etc. ;  but 
the  words  which  preceded  this  clause  in  the 
Confederate  Constitution  are,  "  subject  to  the 
provisions  of  this  Constitution."  Another 
clause  was  added  to  the  prohibition  against 
"  Senators  and  Representatives  holding  any 
other  office  until  the  term  of  their  official  po 
sition  should  have  expired."  But  Congress 
may,  by  law,  grant  to  the  principal  officer  in 
each  of  the  executive  departments  a  seat 
upon  the  floor  of  either  House,  with  the  priv 
ilege  of  discussing  any  measures  appertain 
ing  to  his  Department."  This  provision  was 
intended,  as  in  the  case  of  the  English  houses 
of  Parliament,  to  bring  the  heads  of  depart 
ments  in  direct  personal  relations  with  the 
Congress — and  in  their  phrase,  to  "go  to  the 
country  "  upon  their  policy,  by  resignation  of 
their  offices.  „ 

A  prohibition  against  a  protective  tariff  was 
enacted,  by  granting  the  power  to  levy  du 
ties  "  necessary  for  revenue."  *  •,  .  "  Nor 
shall  any  duties  or  taxes  on  importations  from 
foreign  nations  be  laid  to  promote  or  foster 


ELECTION  AS  PRESIDENT.  15 

any  branch  of  industry ;  and  all  duties,  im 
posts,  and  excises,  shall  be  uniform  through 
out  the  Confederate  States."  Again,  in  the 
clause  regulating  the  commerce,  discrimina 
tion  between  the  States  or  Sections  is  pro 
vided  against  by  the  prohibition  against  in 
ternal  improvements  by  the  General  Govern 
ment.  The  two-thirds  rule  was  insisted  upon 
in  the  appropriations  of  money.  The  African 
Slave  Trade  was  forbidden,  and  the  introduc 
tion  of  slaves  from  without  the  Confederacy 
was  forbidden,  except  in  the  case  of  those 
States  which  held  slaves,  and  which  were  ex 
pected  very  soon  to  formally  become  mem 
bers  of  the  new  Government,  their  citizens  in 
numbers  having  been  already  enrolled  in  the 
Confederate  army.  They  of  course  would 
have  the  right  to  bring  with  them  every  spe 
cies  of  property.  The  right  of  property  in 
negro  slaves  was  reaffirmed,  and  provision 
made  against  interference  with  it.  Taxes 
discriminating  against  any  State  must  not  be 
laid,  "  except  by  a  vote  of  two-thirds  of  both 
houses." 

The  most  careful  precautions  were  taken 
against  the  expenditure  of  public  money  ex 
cept  by  the  two-thirds  rule,  or  by  estimates 
from  the  Executive  branch  approved  by  the 
legislative  branch  of  the  Government,  and  the 
claims  against  the  Confederate  States  must 


1 6  JEFFERSON  DAVIS. 

be  heard  and  granted  by  a  special  tribunal 
created  for  the  purpose  by  Congress. 

No  extra  compensation  was  to  be  granted 
to  any  public  contractor  after  the  service  ren 
dered.  No  resolution  or  law  should  be  voted 
upon  in  any  other  manner  than  separately  and 
on  its  own  merits. 

"  No  State  shall,  without  the  consent  of 
Congress,  levy  duties  except  on  sea-going 
vessels,  for  the  improvement  of  its  rivers  and 
harbors  navigated  by  the  said  vessels ;  but 
such  duties  shall  not  conflict  with  any  treat 
ies  of  the  Confederate  States  with  foreign 
nations."  The  surplus  revenue  from  these 
was  to  be  "  paid  into  the  common  treasury." 

Rivers  flowing  between  the  boundaries  of 
States  were  to  be  improved  by  mutual  com 
pacts. 

The  terms  of  President  and  Vice-president 
were  limited  to  one  term,  and  extended  to 
election  for  six  years. 

The  principal  officers  in  the  Executive  De 
partments  might  be  removed  at  the  Presi 
dent's  pleasure,  as  well  as  all  other  civil  officers, 
but  the  reasons  must  be  presented  to  the  Sen 
ate  and  subject  to  their  approval.  No  person 
rejected  by  the  Senate  shall  be  reappointed 
during  the  ensuing  recess  to  the  same  office. 

The  rights  of  all  the  citizens  of  all  the 
States  were  secured  in  any  new  territory  to 


ELECTION  AS  PRESIDENT.  17 

be  acquired  by  the  Confederate  States  by  an 
express  guarantee. 

Any  three  States  legally  assembled  could 
call  a  Constitutional  Convention,  and  the 
Amendments  to  the  Constitution  should  be 
concurred  in  by  two-thirds  of  all  the  States 
voting  by  their  legislatures. 

The  slave  trade  was  "  hereby  forbidden" 
positively  and  unconditionally,  from  the  be 
ginning.  Neither  the  Confederate  Govern 
ment  nor  that  of  any  of  the  States  could 
permit  it,  and  the  Congress  was  expressly 
"  required  to  enforce  the  prohibition."  The 
only  discretion  in  the  matter  entrusted  to  the 
Congress  was  whether  or  not  to  permit  the 
introduction  of  slaves  "  from  any  of  the  United 
States  or  their  Territories." 

Mr.  Davis  regarded  the  Confederate  Con 
stitution  as  "a  model  of  wise,  temperate,  and 
liberal  statesmanship."  He  wrote  : 

"  On  the  next  day  (February  Qth)  an  elec 
tion  was  held  for  the  chief  executive  officers, 
resulting,  as  I  afterward  learned,  in  my  elec 
tion  to  the  Presidency,  with  the  Hon.  Alex 
ander  H.  Stephens,  of  Georgia,  as  Vice-Pres- 
ident.  Mr.  Stephens  was  a  delegate  from 
Georgia  to  the  Congress. 

"  While  these  events  were  occurring,  having 
completed  the  most  urgent  of  my  duties  at  the 
capital  of  Mississippi,  I  had  gone  to  my  home, 
VOL.  II.— 2 


1 8  JEFFERSON  DAVIS. 

Briarfield,  in  Warren  County,  and  had  begun, 
in  the  homely  but  expressive  language  of  Mr. 
Clay,  "  to  repair  my  fences."  While  thus  en 
gaged,  notice  was  received  of  my  election  to 
the  Presidency  of  the  Confederate  States,  with 
an  urgent  request  to  proceed  immediately  to 
Montgomery  for  inauguration. 

"  As  this  had  been  suggested  as  a  probable 
event,  and  what  appeared  to  me  adequate 
precautions  had  been  taken  to  prevent  it,  I 
was  surprised,  and,  still  more,  disappointed. 
For  reasons  which  it  is  not  now  necessary  to 
state,  I  had  not  believed  myself  as  well  suited 
to  the  office  as  some  others.  I  thought  my 
self  better  adapted  to  command  in  the  field, 
and  Mississippi  had  given  me  the  position 
which  I  preferred  to  any  other — the  highest 
rank  in  her  army.  It  was,  therefore,  that  I 
afterward  said,  in  an  address  delivered  in  the 
Capitol  before  the  Legislature  of  the  State, 
with  reference  to  my  election  to  the  Presi 
dency  of  the  Confederacy,  that  the  duty  to 
which  I  was  thus  called  was  temporary,  and 
that  I  expected  soon  to  be  with  the  Army  of 
Mississippi  again." 

The  messenger  with  the  notification  that 
Mr.  Davis  had  been  elected  President,  and  Al 
exander  H.  Stephens  Vice-president,  of  the 
Confederate  States,  found  him  in  our  garden 
assisting  to  make  rose-cuttings  ;  when  reading 


ELECTION  AS  PRESIDENT.  19 

the  telegram  he  looked  so  grieved  that  I 
feared  some  evil  had  befallen  our  family.  Af 
ter  a  few  minutes'  painful  silence  he  told  me, 
as  a  man  might  speak  of  a  sentence  of  death. 
As  he  neither  desired  nor  expected  the  posi 
tion,  he  was  more  deeply  depressed  than  be 
fore.  He  assembled  his  negroes  and  made 
them  an  affectionate  farewell  speech,  to  which 
they  responded  with  expressions  of  devotion, 
and  he  left  home  next  day  for  Montgomery. 


CHAPTER    III. 

MR.    DAVIS   CONTINUES    HIS  NARRATIVE. 

"  WHILE  on  my  way  to  Montgomery,  and 
waiting  in  Jackson,  Miss.,  for  the  railroad  train, 
I  met  the  Honorable  William  L.  Sharkey,  who 
had  filled  with  great  distinction  the  office  of 
Chief-Justice  of  the  State.  He  said  he  was 
looking  for  me  to  make  an  inquiry.  He  de 
sired  to  know  if  it  was  true,  as  he  had  just 
learned,  that  I  believed  that  there  would  be  war. 
My  opinion  was  freely  given,  that  there  would 
be  war,  long  and  bloody,  and  that  it  behooved 
everyone  to  put  his  house  in  order.  He  ex 
pressed  much  surprise,  and  said  that  he  had 
not  believed  the  report  attributing  this  opin 
ion  to  me.  He  asked  how  I  supposed  war 
could  result  from  the  peaceable  withdrawal 
of  a  sovereign  State.  The  answer  was,  that 
it  was  not  my  opinion  that  war  should  be  oc 
casioned  by  the  exercise  of  that  right,  but  that 
it  would  be. 

"  Judge  Sharkey  and  I  had  not  belonged 
to  the  same  political  party,  he  being  a  Whig, 
but  we  fully  agreed  with  regard  to  the  ques 
tion  of  the  sovereignty  of  the  States.  He  had 


MR.  DAVIS  CONTINUES  HIS  NARRATIVE.    2! 

been  an  advocate  of  nullification,  a  doctrine  to 
which  I  never  assented,  and  which  had  at  one 
time  been  the  main  issue  in  Mississippi  poli 
tics.  He  had  presided  over  the  well-remem 
bered  Nashville  Convention  in  1849,  and  had 
possessed  much  influence  in  the  State,  not 
only  as  an  eminent  jurist,  but  as  a  citizen  who 
had  grown  up  with  it,  and  held  many  offices 
of  honor  and  trust. 

"  On  my  way  to  Montgomery,  brief  ad 
dresses  were  made  at  various  places  at  which 
there  were  temporary  stoppages  of  the  train, 
in  response  to  the  calls  from  the  crowds  as 
sembled  at  such  points.  Some  of  these  ad 
dresses  were  grossly  misrepresented  in  sen 
sational  reports,  made  by  irresponsible  parties, 
which  were  published  in  Northern  newspapers, 
and  were  not  considered  worthy  of  correction 
under  the  pressure  of  the  momentous  duties 
then  devolving  upon  me.  These  false  reports, 
which  represented  me  as  invoking  war  and 
threatening  devastation  of  the  North,  have 
since  been  adopted  by  partisan  writers  as  au 
thentic  history.  It  is  sufficient  answer  to  these 
accusations  to  refer  to  my  farewell  address  to 
the  Senate,  already  given,  as  reported  for  the 
press  at  the  time,  and  in  connection  there 
with,  to  my  inaugural  address  at  Montgom 
ery,  on  assuming  the  office  of  President  of 
the  Confederate  States,  February  the  i8th. 


22  JEFFERSON  DAVIS. 

These  two  addresses,  delivered  at  the  inter 
val  of  a  month,  during  which  no  material 
change  in  circumstances  had  occurred,  being 
one  before  and  the  other  after  the  date  of  the 
sensational  reports  referred  to,  are  sufficient 
to  stamp  them  as  utterly  untrue.  The  inau 
gural  was  deliberately  prepared  and  uttered 
as  written,  and,  in  connection  with  the  fare 
well  speech  to  the  Senate,  presents  a  clear 
and  authentic  statement  of  the  principles  and 
purposes  which  actuated  me  on  assuming  the 
duties  of  the  high  office  to  which  I  had  been 
called." 

An  eye-witness  wrote :  "  I  have  been  hon 
ored  with  the  friendship  of  the  late  President 
Davis  since  early  in  1861.  Of  the  volun 
tary  escort  which  met  him  near  the  Geor 
gia  line  and  went  with  him  to  Montgomery 
when  he  first  assumed  the  Chief  Magis 
tracy  of  the  Confederacy,  then  consisting  of 
seven  States,  I  can  recall  but  three  who  are 
now  living — Alexander  Walker,  Thomas  C. 
Howard,  and  myself. 

"  In  those  days  there  were  no  sleepers,  and 
we  secured  a  car  which  had  been  roughly 
fitted  up  for  the  use  of  Dr.  Lewis,  and  which 
contained  a  comfortable  bed.  Soon  after  an 
introduction,  we  were  at  Ringgold  about  ten 
P.M.,  where  bonfires  were  blazing  and  where 
he  made  a  ringing  speech,  of  which  I  remem- 


MR.  DAVIS   CONTINUES  tfIS  NARRATIVE.    23 

her  the  opening  phrase  :  '  Countrymen,  fel 
low-citizens,  Georgians  !  I  give  your  proud 
est  title  last/  etc.  He  went  to  sleep  at  once 
without  undressing,  but  at  every  station  as 
we  came  down  the  line  he  insisted  upon  re 
sponding  to  the  greetings  of  the  assembled 
crowds,  and  always  in  fresh,  eloquent  lan 
guage.  In  the  morning,  from  the  balcony  of 
the  Trout  House,  he  made  a  stirring  address 
to  a  crowd  of  some  five  thousand  citizens, 
which  manifested  an  enthusiasm  that  I  have 
never  seen  equalled ;  and  so  all  the  way  to 
and  in  Montgomery  similar  scenes  were  re 
peated." 

The  President  was  met  with  acclamations 
by  the  throng  collected  at  Montgomery, 
which,  as  will  appear  in  a  letter  subjoined,  only 
depressed,  while  their  enthusiasm  gratified, 
him,  and  in  two  days  thereafter  he  was  inau 
gurated,  and  delivered  his  address  at  the 
Capitol  at  one  o'clock  on  Monday,  February 
18,  1861. 

Inaugural  Address  of  President  Davis* 

"  GENTLEMEN  OF  THE  CONGRESS  OF  THE 
CONFEDERATE  STATES  OF  AMERICA — FRIENDS 
AND  FELLOW-CITIZENS  :  Called  to  the  difficult 
and  responsible  station  of  Chief  Executive  of 

*  Delivered  at  the  Capitol,  Montgomery,  Ala.,  Monday,  February 
18,  1861,  at  I  P.M. 


$4  JEFFERSON  DAVte. 

the  Provisional  Government  which  you  have 
instituted,  I  approach  the  discharge  of  the 
duties  assigned  to  me  with  an  humble  distrust 
of  my  abilities,  but  with  a  sustaining  confi 
dence  in  the  wisdom  of  those  who  are  to  guide 
and  to  aid  me  in  the  administration  of  public 
affairs,  and  an  abiding  faith  in  the  virtue  and 
patriotism  of  the  people. 

11  Looking  forward  to  the  speedy  establish 
ment  of  a  permanent  Government  to  take  the 
place  of  this,  and  which  by  its  greater  moral 
and  physical  power  will  be  better  able  to  com 
bat  with  the  many  difficulties  which  arise 
from  the  conflicting  interests  of  separate  na 
tions,  I  enter  upon  the  duties  of  the  office,  for 
which  I  have  been  chosen,  with  the  hope  that 
the  beginning  of  our  career,  as  a  Confederacy, 
may  not  be  obstructed  by  hostile  opposition 
to  our  enjoyment  of  the  separate  existence 
and  independence  which  we  have  asserted, 
and,  with  the  blessing  of  Providence,  intend  to 
maintain. 

"  Our  present  condition,  achieved  in  a  man 
ner  unprecedented  in  the  history  of  nations,  il 
lustrates  the  American  idea  that  governments 
rest  upon  the  consent  of  the  governed,  and 
that  it  is  the  right  of  the  people  to  alter  or 
abolish  governments  whenever  they  become 
destructive  to  the  ends  for  which  they  were 
established. 


MR.  DAVIS  CONTINUES  HIS  NARRATIVE.    2$ 

"  The  declared  purpose  of  the  compact  of 
Union  from  which  we  have  withdrawn  was 
'  to  establish  justice,  insure  domestic  tran 
quillity,  provide  for  the  common  defence,  pro 
mote  the  general  welfare,  and  secure  the 
blessings  of  liberty  to  ourselves  and  poster 
ity  ; '  and  when,  in  the  judgment  of  the  sover 
eign  States  now  composing  this  Confederacy, 
it  had  been  perverted  from  the  purposes  for 
which  it  was  ordained,  and  had  ceased  to 
answer  the  ends  for  which  it  was  established, 
a  peaceful  appeal  to  the  ballot-box  declared 
that,  so  far  as  they  were  concerned,  the  gov 
ernment  created  by  that  compact  should 
cease  to  exist.  In  this  they  merely  asserted 
a  right  which  the  Declaration  of  Indepen 
dence  of  1776  had  defined  to  be  inalienable. 
Of  the  time  and  occasion  for  this  exercise 
they,  as  sovereigns,  were  the  final  judges, 
each  for  itself. 

"  The  impartial  and  enlightened  verdict  of 
mankind  will  vindicate  the  rectitude  of  our 
conduct,  and  He  who  knows  the  hearts  of 
men  will  judge  of  the  sincerity  with  which  we 
labored  to  preserve  the  government  of  our 
fathers  in  its  spirit.  The  right  solemnly  pro 
claimed  at  the  birth  of  the  States,  and  which 
has  been  affirmed  and  reaffirmed  in  the  Bills 
of  Rights  of  States  subsequently  admitted 
into  the  Union  of  1789,  undeniably  recog- 


26  JEFFERSON  DAVIS. 

nizes  in  the  people  the  power  to  resume  the 
authority  delegated  for  the  purposes  of 
government.  Thus,  the  sovereign  States, 
here  represented,  proceeded  to  form  this 
Confederacy,  and  it  is  abuse  of  language 
that  their  act  has  been  denominated  a  rev 
olution.  They  formed  a  new  alliance,  but, 
within  each  State,  its  government  has  re 
mained,  and  the  rights  of  person  and  prop 
erty  have  not  been  disturbed.  The  agent 
through  whom  they  communicated  with  for 
eign  nations  is  changed,  but  this  does  not 
necessarily  interrupt  their  international  rela 
tions. 

"  Sustained  by  the  consciousness  that  the 
transition  from  the  former  Union  to  the  pres 
ent  Confederacy  has  not  proceeded  from  a 
disregard  on  our  part  of  just  obligations,  or 
of  any  failure  to  perform  any  constitutional 
duty,  moved  by  no  interest  or  passion  to  in 
vade  the  rights  of  others,  anxious  to  cultivate 
peace  and  commerce  with  all  nations,  if  we 
may  not  hope  to  avoid  war  we  may  at  least 
expect  that  posterity  will  acquit  us  of  having 
needlessly  engaged  in  it.  Doubly  justified 
by  the  absence  of  wrong  on  our  part,  and  by 
wanton  aggression  on  the  part  of  others, 
there  can  be  no  cause  to  doubt  that  the  cour 
age  and  patriotism  of  the  people  of  the  Con 
federate  States  will  be  found  equal  to  any 


MR.  DAVIS  CONTINUES  HIS  NARRATIVE.    27 

measure  of  defence  which  honor  and  security 
may  require. 

"  An  agricultural  people — whose  chief  in 
terest  is  the  export  of  a  commodity  required 
in  every  manufacturing  country,  our  true  pol 
icy  is  peace,  and  the  freest  trade  which  our 
necessities  will  permit.  It  is  alike  our  inter 
est,  and  that  of  all  those  to  whom  we  would 
sell,  and  from  whom  we  would  buy,  that  there 
should  be  the  fewest  practicable  restrictions 
upon  the  interchange  of  commodities.  There 
can  be  but  little  rivalry  between  ours  and  any 
manufacturing  or  navigating  community,  such 
as  the  Northeastern  States  of  the  American 
Union.  It  must  follow,  therefore,  that  a  mu 
tual  interest  would  invite  good  and  kind  of 
fices.  If,  however,  passion  or  the  lust  of 
dominion  should  cloud  the  judgment  or  in 
flame  the  ambition  of  those  States,  we  must 
prepare  to  meet  the  emergency  and  to  main 
tain,  by  the  final  arbitrament  of  the  sword,  the 
position  we  have  assumed  among  the  nations 
of  the  earth.  We  have  entered  upon  the  ca 
reer  of  independence,  and  it  must  be  inflex 
ibly  pursued.  Through  many  years  of  con 
troversy  with  our  late  associates,  the  North 
ern  States,  we  have  vainly  endeavored  to 
secure  tranquillity,  and  to  obtain  respect  for 
the  rights  to  which  we  are  entitled.  As  a 
necessity,  not  a  choice,  we  have  resorted  to 


28  JEFFERSON  DA  WS. 

the  remedy  of  separation ;  and  henceforth 
our  energies  must  be  directed  to  the  conduct 
our  own  affairs,  and  the  perpetuity  of  the 
Confederacy  which  we  have  formed.  If  a 
just  perception  of  mutual  interest  shall  per 
mit  us,  peaceably,  to  pursue  our  separate  po 
litical  career,  my  most  earnest  desire  will 
have  been  fulfilled.  But  if  this  be  denied  to 
us,  and  the  integrity  of  our  territory  and  ju 
risdiction  be  assailed,  it  will  but  remain  for  us, 
with  firm  resolve,  to  appeal  to  arms  and  in 
voke  the  blessings  of  Providence  on  a  just 
cause. 

"  As  a  consequence  of  our  new  condition, 
and  with  a  view  to  meet  anticipated  wants,  it 
will  be  necessary  to  provide  for  the  speedy 
and  efficient  organization  of  branches  of  the 
Executive  Department  having  special  charge 
of  foreign  intercourse,  finance,  military  affairs, 
and  the  postal  service. 

"  For  purposes  of  defence  the  Confederate 
States  may,  under  ordinary  circumstances,  re 
ly  mainly  upon  their  militia  ;  but  it  is  deemed 
advisable,  in  the  present  condition  of  affairs, 
that  there  should  be  a  well-instructed  and 
disciplined  army,  more  numerous  than  would 
usually  be  required  on  a  peace  establishment. 
I  also  suggest  that  for  the  protection  of  our 
harbors  and  commerce  on  the  high  seas  a 
navy  adapted  to  those  objects  will  be  re- 


MR.  DAVIS   CONTINUES  HIS  NARRATIVE.    29 

quired.  These  necessities  have  doubtless  en 
gaged  the  attention  of  Congress. 

"  With  a  Constitution  differing  only  from 
that  of  our  fathers  in  so  far  as  it  is  explana 
tory  of  their  well-known  intent,  freed  from 
the  sectional  conflicts  which  have  interfered 
with  the  pursuit  of  the  general  welfare,  it  is 
not  unreasonable  to  expect  that  States  from 
which  we  have  parted  may  seek  to  unite 
their  fortunes  with  ours  under  the  Govern 
ment  which  we  have  instituted.  For  this 
your  Constitution  makes  adequate  provision  ; 
but  beyond  this,  if  I  mistake  not  the  judg 
ment  and  will  of  the  people,  a  reunion  with 
the  States  from  which  we  have  separated  is 
neither  practicable  nor  desirable.  To  in 
crease  the  power,  develop  the  resources,  and 
promote  the  happiness  of  a  Confederacy,  it  is 
requisite  that  there  should  be  so  much  of 
homogeneity  that  the  welfare  of  every  por 
tion  should  be  the  aim  of  the  whole.  Where 
this  does  not  exist  antagonisms  are  engen 
dered  which  must  and  should  result  in  sepa 
ration. 

<(  Actuated  solely  by  the  desire  to  preserve 
our  own  rights  and  promote  our  own  welfare 
the  separation  of  the  Confederate  States  has 
been  marked  by  no  aggression  upon  others, 
and  followed  by  no  domestic  convulsion.  Our 
industrial  pursuits  have  received  no  check, 


3o  JEFFERSON  DA  VIS. 

the  cultivation  of  our  fields  has  progressed 
as  heretofore,  and  even  should  we  be  involved 
in  war,  there  would  be  no  considerable  dimi 
nution  of  the  production  of  the  staples  which 
have  constituted  our  exports,  and  in  which 
the  commercial  world  has  an  interest  scarcely 
less  than  our  own.  This  common  interest  of 
the  producer  and  consumer  can  only  be  in 
terrupted  by  an  exterior  force  which  would 
obstruct  its  transmission  to  foreign  markets, 
a  course  of  conduct  which  would  be  as  un 
just  toward  us  as  it  would  be  detrimental  to 
the  manufacturing  and  commercial  interests 
abroad.  Should  reason  guide  the  action  of 
the  Government  from  which  we  have  sepa 
rated,  a  policy  so  detrimental  to  the  civilized 
world,  the  Northern  States  included,  could 
not  be  dictated  by  even  the  strongest  desire 
to  inflict  injury  upon  us  ;  but,  if  otherwise,  a 
terrible  responsibility  will  rest  upon  it,  and 
the  sufferings  of  millions  will  bear  testimony 
to  the  folly  and  wickedness  of  our  aggressors. 
In  the  meantime  there  will  remain  to  us,  be 
sides  the  ordinary  means  before  suggested, 
the  well-known  resources  for  retaliation  upon 
the  resources  of  an  enemy. 

"  Experience  in  public  stations,  of  subor 
dinate  grade  to  this  which  your  kindness  has 
conferred,  has  taught  me  that  care  and  toil 
and  disappointment  are  the  price  of  official 


MR.  DAVIS    CONTINUES  HIS  NARRATIVE.    31 

elevation.  You  will  see  many  errors  to  for 
give,  many  deficiencies  to  tolerate,  but  you 
shall  not  find  in  me  either  a  want  of  zeal  or 
fidelity  to  the  cause  that  is  to  me  highest  in 
hope  and  of  most  enduring  affection.  Your 
generosity  has  bestowed  upon  me  an  un 
deserved  distinction,  one  which  I  neither 
sought  nor  desired.  Upon,  the  continuance 
of  the  sentiment,  and  upon  your  wisdom  and 
patriotism,  I  rely  to  direct  and  support  me  in 
the  performance  of  the  duty  required  at  my 
hands. 

11  We  have  changed  the  constituent  parts, 
but  not  the  system  of  our  government.  The 
Constitution  formed  by  our  fathers  is  that  of 
these  Confederate  States,  in  their  exposition 
of  it ;  and  in  the  judicial  construction  it  has 
received  we  have  a  lip;ht  which  reveals  its 

o 

true  meaning. 

u  Thus  instructed  as  to  the  just  interpreta 
tion  of  the  instrument,  and  ever  remembering 
that  all  offices  are  but  trusts  held  for  the 
people,  and  that  delegated  powers  are  to  be 
strictly  construed,  I  will  hope,  by  due  diligence 
in  the  performance  of  my  duties,  though  I  may 
disappoint  your  expectations,  yet  to  retain, 
when  retiring,  something  of  the  good-will  and 
confidence  which  will  welcome  my  entrance 
into  office. 

"  It  is  joyous  in  the  midst  of  perilous  times 


32  JEFFERSON  DAVIS. 

to  look  around  upon  a  people  united  in  heart ; 
where  one  purpose  of  high  resolve  animates 
and  actuates  the  whole  ;  where  the  sacrifices 
to  be  made  are  not  weighed  in  the  balance 
against  honor,  and  right,  and  liberty,  and 
equality.  Obstacles  may  retard,  they  cannot 
long  prevent,  the  progress  of  a  movement 
sanctified  by  its  justice,  and  sustained  by  a 
virtuous  people.  Reverently  let  us  invoke  the 
God  of  our  fathers  to  guide  and  protect  us  in 
our  efforts  to  perpetuate  the  principles,  which 
by  his  blessing  they  were  able  to  vindicate, 
establish,  and  transmit  to  their  posterity,  and 
with  a  continuance  of  His  favor,  ever  grate 
fully  acknowledged,  we  may  hopefully  look 
forward  to  success,  to  peace,  and  to  prosper- 
ity." 

The  letter  to  me  given  below  was  the  first 
written  from  Montgomery,  and  shows  none 
of  the  elation  of  an  ambitious,  triumphant 
conspirator,  but  rather  bears  the  imprint  of  a 
patriot's  weight  of  care  and  sorrow. 

"Montgomery,  Ala.,  February  20,  1861. 

"...  I  have  been  so  crowded  and 
pressed  that  the  first  wish  to  write  to  you  has 
been  thus  long  deferred. 

"  I  was  inaugurated  on  Monday,  having 
reached  here  on  Saturday  night.  The  au- 


MR.  DAVIS   CONTINUES  HIS  NARRATIVE.    33 

dience  was  large  and  brilliant.  Upon  my 
weary  heart  was  showered  smiles,  plaudits, 
and  flowers  ;  but,  beyond  them,  I  saw  troubles 
and  thorns  innumerable. 

"  We  are  without  machinery,  without 
means,  and  threatened  by  a  powerful  oppo 
sition  ;  but  I  do  not  despond,  and  will  not 
shrink  from  the  task  imposed  upon  me. 

"  All  along  the  route,  except  when  in 
Tennessee,  the  people  at  every  station  mani 
fested  good-will  and  approbation  by  bonfires 
at  night,  firing  by  day  ;  shouts  and  saluta 
tions  in  both. 

"  I  thought  it  would  have  gratified  you  to 
have  witnessed  it,  and  have  been  a  memory 
to  our  children. 

"  Thus  I  constantly  wish  to  have  you  all 
with  me.  .  -\  .  Here  I  was  interrupted  by 
the  Secretary  of  the  Congress,  who  brought 
me  two  bills  to  be  approved.  This  is  a  gay 
and  handsome  town  of  some  eight  thousand 
inhabitants,  and  will  not  be  an  unpleasant 
residence.  As  soon  as  an  hour  is  my  own,  I 
will  look  for  a  house  and  write  to  you  more 
fully.  .  . 

VOL.  II.— 3 


CHAPTER   IV 

GOING    TO   MONTGOMERY.— APPOINTMENT    OF    THE 
CABINET. 

IT  was  necessary  to  close  up  our  home  and 
abandon  all  we  had  watched  over  for  years, 
before  going  to  Montgomery ;  our  library, 
which  was  very  large  and  consisted  of  fine 
and  well-chosen  English  books,  was  the 
hardest  to  relinquish  of  all  our  possessions. 
After  all  was  secured,  in  the  best  manner 
practicable,  I  went  to  New  Orleans  en  route 
to  Montgomery,  and  remained  a  few  days  at 
my  father's  house.  While  there,  Captain 
Dreux,  at  the  head  of  his  battalion,  came  to 
serenade  me,  but  I  could  not  command  my 
voice  to  speak  to  him  when  he  came  on  the 
balcony  ;  his  cheery  words  and  the  enthusiasm 
of  his  men  depressed  me  dreadfully.  Vio 
lets  were  in  season,  and  the  captain  and  his 
company  brought  several  immense  bouquets. 
The  color  seemed  ominous.  Perhaps  Mr. 
Davis's  depression  had  communicated  itself 
to  me,  and  I  could  not  rally  or  be  buoyed  up 
by  the  cheerfulness  of  those  who  were  to  do 
battle  for  us.  The  morituri  te  salutant  always 
greeted  me  as  our  men  entered  the  arena. 


GOING    TO   MONTGOMERY.  35 

Captain  Dreux  was  of  the  French  type  of 
soldier,  not  quite  of  the  average  size,  with 
flashing  eyes,  and  an  exceedingly  pleasant 
address.  His  blood  was  the  first  spilled  on 
the  Peninsula,  near  Yorktown.  In  the  ardor 
of  his  attack  he  exposed  himself  too  soon  and 
fell  mortally  wounded.  His  body  was  brought 
back  to  Richmond,  and  I  looked  upon  his 
face  a  second  time,  calm  in  death  ;  for  him  all 
problems  were  solved  and  the  smile  of  his 
first  youth  had  settled  upon  the  rigid  features. 
If  a  soldier  must  fall  in  battle,  it  is  not  the 
worst  fate  to  be  the  first  to  seal  his  faith  with 
his  blood,  his  comrades  have  time  to  miss  and 
deplore  him.  My  journey  up  the  Alabama 
River  to  join  Mr.  Davis  in  Montgomery  was  a 
very  sad.  one,  sharing  his  apprehensions,  and 
knowing  our  needs  to  be  so  many,  with  so 
little  hope  of  supplying  them. 

The  young  men  who  came  to  tell  me  of 
the  "  general's  sash  "  they  hoped  to  win  ;  the 
old  men  who  spoke  of  the  "  soldiering,"  as 
an  unlocked  for  circumstance,  depressed  me 
still  more.  No  one  was  bitter,  but  each 
thought  he  had  a  perfect  right  to  secede  and 
"  did  not  mind  Mr.  Davis  being  a  little  slow" 
A  secession  man  said,  "  We  see  that  he  thinks 
we  ought  to  assert  our  rights,  but  we  began 
to  fear  that  he  had  stayed  too  long  up  there 
with  the  Yankees,"  A  Mississippi  man  an- 


36  JEFFERSON  DAVIS. 

swered  this  remark  with  flushing  face  by  say 
ing1,  "  Remember  Mexico,  sir,  remember  Mex 
ico  ;  "  which  silenced  the  joker. 

When    we   reached   the   hotel    where   the 
President  was  temporarily  lodged,  the  Pro 
visional    Congress    had    assembled,    he    had 
been  inaugurated,  and  the  day  of  my  arrival 
the  Confederate  flag  had  been  hoisted  by  the 
daughter  of  Colonel  Robert  Tyler,   and  the 
grand-daughter    of   the     ex-President.     The 
family    were    at   that    time  living    in  Mont 
gomery.     Mr.  Davis  was  very  averse  to  re 
linquishing  the  old  flag,  and  insisted  that  a 
different  battle-flag    would  make    distinction 
enough  between  the  combatants  ;   but  he  was 
overruled  and  a  new  one  substituted,  with  a 
blue  union  containing  the  stars  in  -white  at 
equal  distances  ;  the  flag  had  one  broad  white 
and  two  red  stripes  the  same  width.      Under 
it  we  won  our  victories,  and  the  memory  of 
its  glory  will    never   fade.     It    is    enshrined 
with  the  extinct  Confederation  in  our  hearts 
forever. 

The  town  swarmed  with  men  desiring  and 
receiving  commissions.  Statesmen,  lawyers, 
congressmen,  planters,  merchants  pressed 
forward  ardently  to  fulfil  their  part  in  the 
struggle.  The  Hon.  William  C.  Rives,  of 
Virginia,  Pierce  Butler,  T.  Butler  King, 
William  L.  Yahcey,  James  M.  Mason,  R.  M. 


GOING    TO  MONTGOMERY.  37 

T.  Hunter,  John  S.  Preston,  of  Virginia,  Will 
iam  Preston,  of  Kentucky,  F.  S.  Bartow,  of 
Georgia,  J.  P.  Mallory  and  Steven  Mallory, 
the  Hon.  James  Chesnut,  of  South  Carolina, 
and  thousands  of  others.  Dr.  Russell,  a  very 
storm-bird  of  battles,  the  correspondent  of  the 
London  Times,  came  to  see  and  report. 

Very  few  battled  for  rank  ;  they  were  there 
for  service  ;  and  the  majority  simply  gave 
their  names  ;  if  they  had  previously  held  rank 
in  the  army  or  navy  they  mentioned  the 
grade,  and  left  the  authorities  to  define  their 
position  in  the  Confederate  army. 

The  house  chosen  for  us  was  a  gentleman's 
residence,  roomy  enough  for  our  purposes, 
on  the  corner  of  a  street  and  looking  toward 
the  State  Capitol.  There  were  many  charm 
ing  people  there,  who  were  all  intent  on  kind 
services  to  us  ;  our  memory  of  Montgomery 
was  one  of  affectionate  welcome,  and  if  we 
should  have  judged  from  the  hampers  of  blos 
soms  poured  out  before  us,  it  was  a  flowery 
kingdom. 

The  members  of  the  Cabinet  were  chosen 
not  from  the  intimate  friends  of  the  President, 
but  from  the  men  preferred  by  the  States  they 
represented  ;  but  it  would  have  been  difficult 
to  find  more  honest,  capable,  fearless  men 
than  they  were.  They  established  themselves 
as  best  they  could  in  boarding-houses  and 


38  JEFFERSON  DAVIS. 

hotels,  until  more  leisure  would  enable  them 
to  choose  fitting1  habitations. 

Mr.  Davis  wrote  of  the  formation  of  his 
Cabinet  thus  : 

"  Unencumbered  by  any  other  considera 
tion  than  the  public  welfare,  having  no  friends 
to  reward  or  enemies  to  punish,  it  resulted 
that  not  one  of  those  who  formed  my  first 
Cabinet  had  borne  to  me  the  relation  of  close 
personal  friendship,  or  had  political  claims 
upon  me  ;  indeed,  with  two  of  them  I  had  no 
previous  acquaintance." 

Mr.  Davis  wished  very  much  to  appoint 
the  Honorable  Robert  Barnwell  to  be  Secre 
tary  of  State,  on  account  of  the  great  confi 
dence  he  felt  in  him  and  of  his  affection  for 
him  ;  but  Mr.  Memminger,  of  South  Carolina, 
was  pressed  for  Secretary  of  the  Treasury. 
Mr.  Barnwell  therefore  declined  the  portfolio 
of  State.  Mr.  Memminger's  portfolio  had 
been  intended  for  Mr.  Toombs,  of  Georgia. 
Mr.  Mallory  had  been  chairman  of  the  Naval 
Committee  in  the  Senate,  and  was  urged  for 
Secretary  of  the  Navy. 

Mr.  Benjamin's  legal  attainments  caused 
him  to  be  invited  to  be  Attorney-General. 
Mr.  Reagan  was  appointed  Postmaster-Gen 
eral  because  of  his  sturdy  honesty,  his  capac 
ity  for  labor,  and  his  acquaintance  with  the 
territory  of  the  Southern  States.  Mr.  Leroy 


-p-- 

)  C.C. ME/ATA  I  NGEff .[ 

^&J  Uy 

CABINET  OF  THE  CONFEDERACY. 


GOING    TO  MONTGOMERY.  39 

Pope  Walker's  name  was  the  only  one  urged 
by  Alabama  for  the  War  Department. 

The  Confederate  Congress  declared  that 
the  laws  of  the  United  States  in  force  and  use 
in  the  Confederate  States  of  America  on  No 
vember  ist  were  continued,  until  repealed  by 
Congress.  The  collectors  and  assistant  treas- 

o 

urers  were  also  continued  in  their  offices. 

The  Provisional  Government  recommended 
that  immediate  steps  be  taken  to  adjust  the 
claims  of  the  United  States  Government  on 
the  public  property,  to  apportion  the  assump 
tion  of  the  common  debt  and  all  other  dis 
puted  points  "  upon  principles  of  right,  jus 
tice,  equity,  and  good  faith." 

They  passed  a  resolution  on  February  I5th, 
before  the  President's  arrival  at  Montgomery, 
that  a  commission  of  three  persons  should  be 
appointed  by  him  as  early  as  possible  to  be 
sent  to  the  Government  of  the  United  States, 
for  the  purpose  of  negotiating  friendly  rela 
tions  between  the  two  governments. 

The  known  courage,  inflexible  principle, 
self-denial,  and  devotion  to  duty  of  the  Presi 
dent  had  been  personally  observed  by  the 
men  of  the  Provisional  Congress  in  the  body 
from  which  they  had  just  seceded,  where  the 
majority  of  its  members  had  served  with  him 
in  the  United  States  Congress  for  years. 
With  many  of  them  he  held  relations  of  per. 


40  JEFFERSON  DAVIS. 

sonal  friendship,  and  the  Executive  and  Leg 
islative  branches  of  the  Government  were  in 
that  close  accord  which  seemed  to  promise 
the  utmost  efficiency  for  each. 

Mr.  Davis  went  to  his  office  before  nine 
o'clock  and  came  home  at  six,  exhausted  and 
silent,  but  he  was  so  gentle  and  patient  that 
Pierce  Butler,  who  was  our  guest  at  this  time, 
asked  me  jestingly,  if  he  was  always  a  "  com 
bination  of  angel  and  seer  like  that."  He 
slept  little  and  ate  less,  but  seemed  to  derive 
great  comfort  from  the  certainty  that  the  Pro 
visional  Congress  had  a  thorough  co-intelli 
gence  with  him,  and  would  heartily  co-oper 
ate  with  the  Executive  in  all  essentials. 

Now  began  in  earnest  the  business  of  per 
petuating  the  old  Government  under  which 
the  rights  of  the  minority  had  been  for  fifty 
years  fully  protected,  but  against  which  a  rev 
olution  had  prevailed.  Every  change  in  the 
Constitution  was  jealously  avoided.  New 
and  more  express  guarantees  for  the  old  lib 
erty  were  sought  to  be  enacted,  so  that  no 
future  majority  could  have  color  of  pretext  for 
overriding  another  minority,  which  might  be 
evolved  in  the  future  out  of  the  divergent  in 
terests  of  the  Confederate  States. 


7 


CHAPTER   V. 

THE    OFFICE    WAS   NOT   SOUGHT. 

ONE  of  the  most  popular  political  maxims 
of  the  country,  a  maxim  more  honored  in  the 
breach  than  the  observance,  is  that  "  the 
office  should  seek  the  man,  not  the  man  the 
office."  This  maxim  was  rigidly  observed  by 
my  husband  from  the  beginning  to  the  end  of 
his  long  public  career.  He  never  intrigued 
for  any  of  the  public  positions  he  held,  either 
in  person  or  by  authorized  representatives. 
An  active  and  zealous  participant  in  all  polit 
ical  contests,  he  never  made  a  canvass  for 
himself,  excepting  during  one  Presidential 
campaign,  when  a  candidate  on  the  list  of 
Presidential  electors— a  vote  for  which  was  a 
vote  not  for  the  men  on  the  ticket  but  for  Mr. 
Polk,  the  Democratic  candidate  for  President 
of  the  United  States. 

After  defeat  had  settled  on  our  cause,  some 
malcontents  stated  publicly  that  Mr.  Davis 
had  been  a  candidate  for  the  Presidency  of 
the  Confederate  States,  and  that  his  election 
to  that  position  was  the  result  of  a  misunder 
standing  or  of  accidental  complications  ;  that 


42  JEFFERSON  DA  VIS. 

he  held  "  extreme  views,"  and  had,  at  that 
period,  "an  inadequate  conception  of  the 
magnitude  of  the  war  probably  to  be  waged." 

These  expressions  called  out  prompt  con 
tradiction  from  several  eminent  Confederates 
who  had  personal  knowledge  of  the  facts. 
As  some  of  these  misrepresentations  have 
found  their  way  into  books  that  may  be  quoted 
as  authorities  when  the  present  survivors  of 
the  war  are  no  longer  here  to  refute  them,  I 
deem  it  proper  to  refer  to  this  evidence,  volun 
teered  at  a  time  when  the  events  were  fresh 
in  the  memories  of  their  contemporaries. 
The  Honorable  J.  A.  P.  Campbell,  of  Mis 
sissippi,  afterward  Justice  of  the  Supreme 
Court  of  that  State,  wrote  in  1870: 

"  If  there  was  a  delegate  from  Mississippi, 
or  any  other  State,  who  was  opposed  to  the 
election  of  Jefferson  Davis  as  President  of 
the  Confederate  States,  I  never  heard  of  the 
fact.  No  other  man  was  spoken  of  for  Presi 
dent  in  my  hearing.  It  is  within  my  per 
sonal  knowledge  that  the  statement  '  that 
Mr.  Davis  did  not  have  a  just  appreciation  of 
the  serious  character  of  the  contest  between 
the  seceding  States  and  the  Union  '  is  wholly 
untrue.  Mr.  Davis,  more  than  any  man  I 
ever  heard  talk  on  the  subject,  had  a  correct 
apprehension  of  the  consequences  of  seces 
sion,  and  of  the  magnitude  of  the  war  to  be 


THE   OFFICE    WAS  NOT  SOUGHT.  43 

waged  to  coerce  the  seceding1  States.  While 
at  Montgomery,  he  expressed  the  belief  that 
heavy  fighting  must  occur,  and  that  Virginia 
was  to  be  the  chief  battle-ground.  Years 
prior  to  secession,  in  his  address  before  the 
Legislature  and  people  of  Mississippi,  Mr. 
Davis  had  earnestly  advised  extensive  prep 
aration  for  the  possible  contingency  of  seces 
sion. 

"  After  the  formation  of  the  Confederate 
States,  he  was  far  in  advance  of  the  Consti 
tutional  Convention  and  the  Provisional  Con 
gress,  and,  as  I  believe,  of  any  man  in  it,  in 
his  views  of  the  gravity  of  the  situation  and 
the  probable  extent  and  duration  of  the  war, 
and  of  the  provision  that  should  be  made  for 
the  defence  of  the  seceding  States.  Before 
secession,  Mr.  Davis  thought  war  would  re 
sult  from  it ;  and  after  secession  he  expressed 
the  view  that  the  war  then  commenced  would 
be  an  extensive  one. 

"The  idea  that  Mr.  Davis  was  so  'ex 
treme'  in  his  views,  is  a  new  one.  He  was 
extremely  conservative  on  the  subject  of  se 
cession. 

"The  suggestion  that  Mississippi  would 
have  preferred  General  Toombs  or  Mr.  Cobb 
for  President  has  no  foundation  in  fact.  My 
opinion  is  that  no  man  could  have  obtained 
a  single  vote  in  the  Mississippi  delegation 


44  JEFFERSON  DAVIS. 

against  Mr.  Davis,  who  was  then,  as  he  is 
now,  the  most  eminent  and  popular  of  all  the 
citizens  of  Mississippi." 

"  The  late  Duncan  F.  Kenner,  of  Louisiana, 
formerly  a  member  both  of  the  Federal  and 
Confederate  Congress,  wrote  :  "  My  recol 
lections  of  what  transpired  at  the  time  are 
very  vivid  and  positive. 

"  Who  should  be  President?  was  the  ab 
sorbing  question  of  the  day.  It  engaged  the 
attention  of  all  present,  and  elicited  many  let 
ters  from  our  respective  constituencies.  The 
general  inclination  was  strongly  in  favor  of 
Mr.  Davis — in  fact  no  other  name  was  so  prom 
inently  or  so  generally  mentioned.  Next  to 
Mr.  Davis  the  name  of  Mr.  Rhett,  of  South 
Carolina,  was  probably  more  frequently  men 
tioned  than  that  of  any  other  person. 

"The  rule  adopted  at  our  election  was  that 
each  State  should  have  one  vote,  to  be  de 
livered  in  open  session,  viva  voce,  by  one  of 
the  delegates  as  spokesman  for  his  colleagues. 
The  delegates  of  the  different  States  met  in 
secret  session  to  select  their  candidate  and 
spokesman. 

"  Of  what  occurred  in  these  various  meet 
ings  I  cannot  speak  authoritatively  as  to 
other  States,  as  their  proceedings  were  con 
sidered  secret.  I  can  speak  positively,  how 
ever,  of  what  took  place  at  a  meeting  of  the 


THE    OFFICE    WAS  NOT  SOUGHT.  45 

delegates  from  Louisiana.  We,  the  Louis 
iana  delegates,  without  hesitation,  and  unan 
imously,  after  a  very  short  session,  decided  in 
favor  of  Mr.  Davis.  No  other  name  was 
mentioned.  The  claims  of  no  one  else  were 
considered,  or  even  alluded  to.  There  was 
not  the  slighest  opposition  to  Mr.  Davis  on 
the  part  of  any  of  our  delegation  ;  certainly 
none  was  expressed  ;  all  appeared  enthusiastic 
in  his  favor  ;  and,  I  have  no  reason  to  doubt, 
felt  so.  Nor  was  the  feeling  induced  by  any 
solicitation  on  the  part  of  Mr.  Davis  or  his 
friends.  Mr.  Davis  was  not  in  or  near  Mont 
gomery  at  the  time.  He  was  never  heard 
from  on  the  subject,  as  far  as  I  knew.  He  was 
never  announced  as  a  candidate.  We  were 
seeking  the  best  man  to  fill  the  position,  and 
the  conviction  at  the  time,  in  the  minds  of  a 
large  majority  of  the  delegates,  that  Mr.  Davis 
was  the  best  qualified,  both  from  his  civil  and 
military  knowledge  and  experience,  induced 
many  to  look  upon  him  as  the  best  selection 
that  could  be  made. 

"  This  conviction,  coupled  with  his  well-re 
cognized  conservative  views — for  in  no  sense 
did  we  consider  Mr.  Davis  extreme  in  either 
his  views  or  purposes — was  the  deciding  con 
sideration  which  controlled  the  votes  of  the 
Louisiana  delegation." 

The  Honorable  James  Chesnut,  of  South 


46  JEFFERSON  DAVIS. 

Carolina  wrote:  "  Mr.  Davis,  then  conspicuous 
for  his  ability,  had  long  experience  in  the 
United  States  Senate  in  civil  service,  was  re 
puted  a  most  successful  organizer  and  admin 
istrator  of  the  military  department  of  the 
United  States  when  he  was  Secretary  of  War, 
and  came  out  of  the  Mexican  War  with  much 
tclat  as  a  soldier.  Possessing  a  combination 
of  these  high  and  needful  qualities,  he  was 
regarded  by  nearly  the  whole  South  as  the 
fittest  man  for  the  position.  I  certainly  so 
regarded  him." 

Honorable  W.  Porcher  Miles,  of  Virginia, 
formerly  of  South  Carolina,  and  a  member  of 
the  Provisional  Congress  of  1861,  wrote  :  "  To 
the  best  of  my  recollection  there  was  entire 
unanimity  in  the  South  Carolina  delegation 
at  Montgomery  on  the  subject  of  the  choice 
of  a  President.  I  think  there  was  no  ques 
tion  that  Mr.  Davis  was  the  choice  of  our 
delegation  and  of  the  whole  people  of  South 
Carolina." 

Thus  Mr.  Davis  came  to  be  the  commander- 
in-chief  of  a  country  not  yet  torn  loose  from 
the  clinging  memories  of  a  common  glory,  and 
which  he  would  gladly,  had  it  been  in  his 
power,  have  merged  in  the  United  States, 
even  on  the  day  of  his  election,  could  he 
have  offered  any  guarantee  to  the  Southern 
people  for  the  exercise  of  their  unalienable 


THE   OFFICE    WAS  NOT  SOUGHT.  47 

rights    and   the    security  of  their   lives   and 
property. 

He  approached  the  task  of  creating  a  na 
tion  with  a  longing  beyond  expression  to  have 
his  extended  hand  of  fellowship  grasped  by 
that  of  the  North  before  blood  had  been 
spilled,  and  with  many  humble  petitions  to  Al 
mighty  God  for  guidance  and  support. 


CHAPTER   VI. 

PEACE   PROPOSITIONS. 

THE  Provisional  Congress,  before  the  arri 
val  of  Mr.  Davis,  passed  a  law  that  the  Gov 
ernment  should  immediately  take  steps  to 
settle  everything  appertaining  to  the  common 
property,  debts,  and  common  obligations  of 
the  late  Union  upon  "  principles  of  right,  jus 
tice,  equity,  and  good  faith."  On  February 
1 5th  Congress  also  advised  and  ordained 
that  three  persons  be  appointed  as  early  as 
the  President  conveniently  could,  and  sent 
to  the  Government  of  the  United  States,  to 
"  negotiate  friendly  relations." 

As  the  minds  of  the  Western  people  had 
been  much  excited  about  the  free  navigation 
of  the  Mississippi  River  and  its  tributaries,  on 
February  25,  1861,  an  act  was  passed  "to 
declare  and  establish  free  navigation  of  the 
Mississippi  River  without  any  duty  or  hinder- 
ance  except  light-money,  pilotage,  and  other 
like  charges." 

"All  laws  imposing  discriminating  duties 
on  foreign  vessels  or  goods  imported  in  them 
were  rejected."  The  hope  cherished  by  the 


PEACE  PROPOSITIONS.  49 

Congress  that  peace  would  be  maintained  in 
clined  them  rather  to  overstep  the  bounds  of 
duty  to  their  own  country,  and  grant  privi 
leges  greater  than  those  considered  due  to 
any  other  nation.  The  President  hoped  for 
reunion,  with  guarantees  against  aggression 
by  the  stronger  section  of  the  much-beloved 
Union. 

Within  a  week  after  his  inauguration,  on 
February  25,  1861,  Peace  Commissioners 
were  appointed,  and  on  the  same  day  Messrs. 
A.  B.  Roman,  of  Louisiana,  Martin  J.  Craw 
ford,  of  Georgia,  and  John  B.  Forsyth,  of  Ala 
bama,  were  confirmed  by  Congress.  The 
politics  of  these  Commissioners  represented 
strangely  the  three  phases  of  opinion  which 
most  generally  prevailed  in  the  United  States 
when  the  difference  arose  between  the  States. 
Judge  Roman  had  been  a  Whig,  Mr.  Craw 
ford  a  States  Rights  Democrat,  and  Mr.  For 
syth  a  zealous  Douglas  man.  No  secret  in 
structions  were  given.  Their  own  convictions 
and  honest  and  peaceful  purpose  were  to  be 
their  guide. 

In  the  meanwhile  Virginia,  through  the 
General  Assembly,  on  January  19,  1861, 
adopted  a  series  of  resolutions  deprecating 
disunion  and  inviting  all  States  that  were 
moved  by  a  like  desire  to  appoint  Commis 
sioners  to  unite  with  her.  Ex-President  John 
VOL.  II.— 4 


5o  JEFFERSON  DAVIS. 

Tyler,  Messrs.  William  C.  Rives,  John  W. 
Brockenbrugh,  George  W.  Summers,  and 
James  A.  Seddon,  "five  of  the  most  distin 
guished  citizens  of  the  State,  were  appointed 
to  represent  Virginia  in  the  proposed  confer 
ence."  If  any  agreement  could  be  made 
they  were  to  report  to  the  Confederate  Con 
gress  for  ratification  by  each  State  severally. 
The  border  States  acceded  and  others  fol 
lowed.  Twenty-one  States  were  represent 
ed.  They  met,  debated,  made  propositions 
and  counter-propositions,  and  adjourned  Feb 
ruary  27th.  Texas  and  Arkansas  were  not 
of  the  number,  because  they  were  at  that 
time  passing  ordinances  of  secession.  Mich 
igan,  Wisconsin,  Minnesota,  and  the  two  Pa 
cific  States  —  Oregon  and  California — held 
aloof.  The  two  senators  from  Michigan  op 
posed  the  Peace  Convention,  as  was  afterward 
learned  from  a  correspondence  read  in  the 
Senate  on  February  27th,  because  it  would 
be  "  a  step  toward  obtaining  that  concession 
which  the  imperious  slave  power  so  insolently 
demands."*  Finally  the  writer  changed  his 
policy  and  recommended  that  "  true,  unflinch 
ing  men  "  be  sent,  who  would  be  "  in  favor  of 
the  Constitution  as  it  is,"  or,  in  other  phrase, 

*  See  letter  of  S.  K.  Bingham  to  Governor  Blair  of  Michigan, 
Congressional  Globe,  Second  Session,  36th  Congress,  Part  II.,  page 
1147. 


PEACE  PROPOSITIONS.  51 

oppose  any  effort  at  pacification  of  the  con 
tending  parties.  The  other  Senator  wanted 
"stiff-backed"  delegates,  and  added  that 
"  without  a  little  blood-letting "  the  Union 
would  not  be  "  worth  a  rush." 

Mr.  Z.  Chandler  wrote  that  Governor 
Bingham  telegraphed  him,  at  the  request  of 
Massachusetts  and  New  York,  to  send  "  dele 
gates  to  the  Peace  or  Compromise  Congress. 
Ohio,  Indiana,  and  Rhode  Island  are  coming 
in,  and  there  is  danger  of  Illinois  ;  and  now 
they  beg  us,  for  God's  sake,  to  come  to  their 
rescue,  and  save  the  Republican  party  from 
rupture."  * 

A  plan  was  finally  agreed  upon  by  the  ma 
jority  of  the  States  present.  Its  provisions 
were  nearly  like  the  resolutions  of  Mr.  Crit- 
tenden,  which  were  still  under  consideration 
in  the  Senate,  though  rather  less  favorable  to 
the  South.  But  the  extreme  Radicals  ob 
jected  even  to  considering  it  ;  they  failed  to 
prevent  its  being  debated,  but,  both  Mr. 
Crittenden's  resolutions  and  the  plan  of  the 
Peace  Conference,  were  defeated  on  a  vote, 
and  so  these  efforts  at  pacification  came  to 
naught,  except  that  the  fierce  pulse-beat  of 
the  aggressive  North  was  felt. 

Mr.  Lincoln  came  into  office,  elected  by  a 

*  See  the  Congressional  Globe,  ut  supra. 


52  JEFFERSON  DA  VIS. 

sectional  party  ;  very  soon  after  he  took  the 
oath  to  administer  impartial  justice.  There 
were  not  wanting"  men  of  all  parties  in  the 
North  who  boldly  adhered  to  the  provisions 
of  the  Constitution,  notably  the  New  York 
Tribune,  the  Albany  Argus,  the  New  York 
Herald,  and  others. 

A  great  meeting  was  held  in  New  York, 
January  31,  1861,  where  Governor  Seymour 
asked  the  pertinent  question,  "  If  successful 
coercion  by  the  North  is  less  revolutionary 
than  successful  secession  by  the  South  ? " 
The  Detroit  Free  Press  suggested  that  a  fire 
would  be  opened  on  the  rear  of  troops  raised 
to  coerce  a  State.  The  Union  of  Bangor, 
Me.,  spoke  much  to  the  same  effect,  and  even 
Mr.  Lincoln  did  not  care  to  advocate  coer 
cion  in  his  inaugural.  "  Something  new  and 
strange "  was  making  its  home  among  us, 
and  freemen  had  not  yet  learned  its  name  or 
determined  to  bid  it  welcome.  Mr.  Lincoln 
deemed  it  better  to  forego  filling  the  offices 
in  the  South,  because  it  would  be  "  irritating, 
and  so  nearly  impracticable  withal." 

Thus  far  the  conservative  men  of  the  North, 
who,  though  they  differed  from  the  Confed 
erates,  mingled  no  fanaticism  with  the  di 
vergence  of  policies,  were  making  strenuous 
efforts  to  stay  the  ill-advised  policy  of  coer 
cion.  In  the  United  States  Senate  Stephen 


P£ACE  PROPOSITIONS.  $3 

A.  Douglas  offered  a  resolution  recommending 
the  "  withdrawal  of  the  garrisons  from  all  forts 
within  the  limits  of  the  States  which  had  se 
ceded,  except  those  at  Key  West  and  the 
Dry  Tortugas,  needful  to  the  United  States 
for  coaling  stations."  He  said  unless  we 
intended  to  reduce  the  seceding  States  to 
subjection,  that  Sumter  must  revert  to  the 
power  that  should  hold  Charleston.  Pensa- 
cola  was  entitled  to  Fort  Pickens.  "  I  pro 
claim  boldly,"  said  the  eloquent  Senator,  "the 
policy  of  those  with  whom  I  act.  We  are  for 
peace." 

Mr.  Douglas  knew  that  the  occupation  of 
the  fort  was  a  standing  menace  and  provoca 
tion  to  the  people  of  the  South. 

The  Southern  people  had  never  as  yet 
given  up  the  hope  that  the  better  feelings  of 
the  masses  at  the  North  would  assert  them 
selves,  and  constantly  the  expression  was 
heard,  "  Secession  was  a  last  resort ;  would 
to  God  it  could  yet  be  prevented."  The 
Southern  people  did  not  believe  that  the 
rank  and  file  of  the  North  desired  to  oppress 
them,  or  forcibly  seize  their  property  and  de 
stroy  their  prosperity.  But  the  Republicans, 
excited  by  the  sound  of  their  own  threats, 
became  more  and  more  intolerant  and  over 
bearing.  Mr..  Clarke,  of  New  Hampshire, 
announced  in  his  place  that  amendments  to 


54  JEFFE&SON  DAVIS. 

the  Constitution  were  not  needful — what  was 
required  was  obedience -to  its  provisions,  not 
amendments  to  it,  and  advised  a  rigorous  en 
forcement  of  the  law. 

His  resolutions  passed  both  houses  of  Con 
gress  without  demurrers  from  the  Southern 
members.  The  Republicans  refused  all  sug 
gestions  for  compromise,  and  ignored  the 
right  of  the  South  to  property  in  slaves,  or 
their  rights  in  the  Territories. 

The  most  notable  of  these  projects  for 
pacification  was  the  series  of  resolutions  of 
fered  by  Mr.  Crittenden,  of  Kentucky,  which 
soon  came  to  be  known  as  the  "  Crittenden 
Compromise." 

"  They  proposed  to  amend  the  Constitution 
by  introducing  articles  declaring  that  south  of 
a  given  latitude  neither  Congress  nor  any 
electoral  legislature  should  have  power  to 
abolish,  modify,  nor  interfere  with  slavery  in 
the  Territories  ;  that  Congress  should  have 
no  power  to  abolish  slavery  in  the  District 
of  Columbia,  or  wherever  else  the  Federal 
Government  had  exclusive  jurisdiction  ;  and, 
finally,  by  an  amendment  providing  that  in 
case  of  failure,  from  violence  to  the  officer  of 
the  law,  to  arrest  any  fugitive  from  labor, 
the  community  where  such  failure  took  place 
should  be  compelled  to  pay  the  value  of  such 
alleged  fugitive  to  the  owner  thereof,  and  may 


PEACE  PROPOSITIONS.  5$ 

be  prosecuted  for  that  purpose  or  to  that  ef 
fect."  "  The  adoption  of  this  compromise  in 
the  existing  state  of  affairs  was  the  last  hope 
of  saving  the  Union  ;  but  the  North  rejected 
it,  and  even  refused  to  entertain  a  series  of 
propositions  still  less  favorable  to  the  South 
that  were  offered  by  Mr.  Etheridge." 

The  Confederate  Commissioners  had  been 
sent  to  Washington.  Mr.  Crawford  left  Mont 
gomery  on  February  2/th,  and  reached  there 
two  or  three  days  before  the  expiration  of 
Mr.  Buchanan's  term.  He  bore  a  letter  to 
the  President  from  Mr.  Davis.  Mr.  Bu 
chanan  had  sent  an  intimation  that  he  would 
be  happy  to  receive  Commissioners  from  the 
Confederate  States,  and  would  refer  their 
communications  to  the  Senate.  Mr.  Craw 
ford  found  Washington  in  a  state  of  great  ex 
citement,  and  an  army  of  office-seekers  block 
ing  the  pavement  in  order  to  interview  the 
President-elect  —  Mr.  Lincoln.  Care  and 
foreboding  sat  upon  every  brow  in  Congress. 
Mr.  Buchanan  "  was  in  a  state  of  most  thor 
ough  alarm,  not  only  for  his  home  at  Wheat- 
land,  but  for  his  personal  safety."  He  had 
previously  expressed  to  Mr.  Davis  his  fear  of 
his  homeward  route  being  lighted  by  burning 
effigies  of  himself.  Actuated  by  this  dread, 
he  refused  to  receive  the  Commissioners  or 
send  any  message  to  the  Senate. 


56  JEFFERSON  DA  VIS. 

Eight  days  after  the  inauguration  of  Mr. 
Lincoln  the  Commissioners  announced  their 
presence  and  object. 

The  most  concise  account  is  found  in  a 
message  of  the  Confederate  President,  sent 
April  29,  1 86 1. 

"  Scarce  had  you  assembled  in 

February  last,  when,  prior  even  to  the  inau 
guration  of  the  Chief  Magistrate,  you  had 
elected,  you  expressed  your  desire  for  the  ap 
pointment  of  Commissioners,  and  for  the  set 
tlement  of  all  questions  of  disagreement  be 
tween  the  two  Governments  upon  principles 
of  right,  equity,  and  good  faith. 

"  It  was  my  pleasure,  as  well  as  my  duty, 
to  co-operate  with  you  in  this  work  of  peace. 
Indeed,  in  my  address  to  you,  on  taking  the 
oath  of  office  before  receiving  from  you  the 
communication  of  this  resolution,  I  had  said 
that,  as  a  necessity,  not  as  a  choice,  we  have 
resorted  to  the  remedy  of  separating,  and 
henceforth  our  energies  must  be  directed  to 
the  conduct  of  our  own  affairs,  and  the  per 
petuity  of  the  Confederacy  which  we  have 
formed.  If  a  just  perception  of  mutual  inter 
est  shall  permit  us  to  peaceably  pursue  our 
separate  political  career,  my  most  earnest  de 
sire  will  then  have  been  fulfilled. 

"  It  was  in  furtherance  of  these  accordant 
views  of  the  Congress  and  the  Executive 


PEACE  PROPOSITIONS.  $j 

that  I  made  choice  of  three  discreet,  able,  and 
distinguished  citizens,  who  repaired  to  Wash 
ington.  Aided  by  their  cordial  co-operation 
and  that  of  the  Secretary  of  State,  every  ef 
fort  compatible  with  self-respect  and  the  dig 
nity  of  the  Confederacy  was  exhausted,  be 
fore  I  allowed  myself  to  yield  to  the  conviction 
that  the  Government  of  the  United  States 
was  determined  to  attempt  the  conquest  of 
this  people,  and  that  our  cherished  hopes  of 
peace  were  unobtainable. 

"  On  the  arrival  of  our  Commissioners  in 
Washington,  on  March  5th,  they  postponed, 
at  the  suggestion  of  a  friendly  intermediator, 
doing  more  than  giving  informal  notice  of 
their  arrival.  This  was  done  with  a  view  to 
afford  time  to  the  President  of  the  United 
States,  who  had  just  been  inaugurated,  for 
the  discharge  of  other  pressing  official  duties 
in  the  organization  of  his  administration,  be 
fore  engaging  his  attention  to  the  object  of 
their  mission. 

"  It  was  not  until  the  twelfth  of  the  month 
that  they  officially  addressed  the  Secretary  of 
State,  informing  him  of  the  purpose  of  their 
arrival,  and  stating,  in  the  language  of  their 
instructions,  their  wish  to  make  to  the  Gov 
ernment  of  the  United  States  overtures  for 
the  opening  of  negotiations,  assuring  the 
Government  of  the  United  States  that  the 


58  JEFFERSON  DAVIS. 

President,  Congress,  and  people  of  the  Con 
federate  States  desired  a  peaceful  solution  of 
these  great  questions  ;  that  it  was  neither 
their  interest  nor  their  wish  to  make  any  de 
mand  which  was  not  founded  on  the  strictest 
principles  of  justice,  nor  to  do  any  act  to  in 
jure  their  late  confederates. 

"  To  this  communication  no  formal  reply 
was  received  until  April  8th.  During  the  in 
terval  the  Commissioners  had  consented  to 
waive  all  questions  of  form,  with  the  firm  re 
solve  to  avoid  war,  if  possible.  They  went 
so  far  even  as  to  hold,  during  that  long  period, 
unofficial  intercourse  through  an  intermediary, 
whose  high  position  and  character  inspired 
the  hope  of  success,  and  through  whom  con 
stant  assurances  were  received  from  the  Gov 
ernment  of  the  United  States  of  its  peaceful 
intentions,  of  its  determination  to  evacuate 
Fort  Sumter;  and,  further,  that  no  measure 
would  be  introduced,  changing  the  existing 
status,  prejudicial  to  the  Confederate  States ; 
that,  in  event  of  any  change  in  regard  to  Fort 
Pickens,  notice  would  be  given  to  the  Com 
missioners. 

"  The  crooked  path  of  diplomacy  can 
scarcely  furnish  an  example  so  wanting  in 
courtesy,  in  candor,  and  directness  as  was 
the  course  of  the  United  States  Government 
toward  our  Commissioners  in  Washington, 


PEACE  PROPOSITIONS.  $9 

For  proof  of  this  I  refer  to  the  annexed  docu 
ments,  taken  in  connection  with  further  facts, 
which  I  now  proceed  to  relate. 

"Early  in  April  the  attention  of  the  whole 
country  was  attracted  to  extraordinary  prep 
arations,  in  New  York  and  other  Northern 
ports,  for  an  extensive  military  and  naval  ex 
pedition.  These  preparations  were  com 
menced  in  secrecy  for  an  expedition  whose 
destination  was  concealed,  and  only  became 
known  when  nearly  completed ;  and  on  the 
5th,  6th,  and  7th  of  April,  transports  and  ves 
sels  of  war,  with  troops,  munitions,  and  mili 
tary  supplies,  sailed  from  Northern  ports, 
bound  southward. 

"  Alarmed  by  so  extraordinary  a  demon 
stration,  the  Commissioners  requested  the 
delivery  of  an  answer  to  their  official  commu 
nication  of  March  i2th,  and  the  reply,  dated 
on  the  1 5th  of  the  previous  month  was  ob 
tained,  from  which  it  appears  that,  during 
the  whole  interval,  while  the  Commissioners 
were  receiving  assurances  calculated  to  in 
spire  hope  of  the  success  of  their  mission, 
the  Secretary  of  State  and  the  President  of 
the  United  States  had  already  determined  to 
hold  no  intercourse  with  them  whatever,  to 
refuse  even  to  listen  to  any  proposals  they 
had  to  make  ;  and  had  profited  by  the  delay 
created  by  their  own  assurances,  in  order  to 


60  JEFFERSON  DAVIS. 

prepare  secretly  the  means  for  effective  hos 
tile  operations." 

About  this  time  a  letter  was  written  by 
Major  Anderson  as  noble  as  it  was  unselfish. 

"FORT  SUMTER,  S.  C,  April  8,  1861. 

"  To  COLONEL  L.  THOMAS,  Adjutant- General, 
United  States  Army. 

"  COLONEL  :  I  have  the  honor  to  report  that 
the  resumption  of  work  yesterday  (Sunday) 
at  various  points  on  Morris  Island,  and  the 
vigorous  prosecution  of  it  this  morning,  ap 
parently  strengthening  all  the  batteries  which 
are  under  the  fire  of  our  guns,  shows  that 
they  either  have  just  received  some  news 
from  Washington  which  has  put  them  on  the 
qui  vive,  or  that  they  have  received  orders 
from  Montgomery  to  commence  operations 
here.  I  am  preparing,  by  the  side  of  my 
barbette  guns,  protection  for  our  men  from 
the  shells  which  will  be  almost  continually 
bursting  over  or  in  our  works. 

"  I  had  the  honor  to  receive  by  yesterday's 
mail  the  letter  of  the  Honorable  Secretary 
of  War,  dated  April  4th,  and  confess  that 
what  he  there  states  surprises  me  greatly — 
following,  as  it  does,  and  contradicting  so 
positively,  the  assurance  Mr.  Crawford  tele 
graphed  he  was  '  authorized '  to  make.  I 


PEACE  PROPOSITIONS.  61 

trust  that  this  matter  will  be  at  once  put  in  a 
correct  light,  as  a  movement  made  now,  when 
the  South  has  been  informed  that  none  such 
would  be  attempted,  would  produce  most 
disastrous  results  throughout  our  country. 
It  is,  of  course,  now  too  late  for  me  to  give 
any  advice  in  reference  to  the  proposed 
scheme  of  Captain  Fox.  I  fear  that  its  re 
sult  cannot  fail  to  be  disastrous  to  all  con 
cerned.  Even  with  his  boat  at  our  walls,  the 
loss  of  life  (as  I  think  I  mentioned  to  Mr. 
Fox)  in  unloading  her  will  more  than  pay  for 
the  good  to  be  accomplished  by  the  expedi 
tion,  which  keeps  us,  if  I  can  maintain  pos 
session  of  this  work,  out  of  position,  sur 
rounded  by  strong  works  which  must  be 
carried  to  make  this  fort  of  the  least  value  to 
the  United  States  Government. 

"  We  have  not  oil  enough  to  keep  a  light 
in  the  lantern  for  one  night.  The  boats  will 
have  to,  therefore,  rely  at  night  entirely  upon 
other  marks.  I  ought  to  have  been  informed 
that  this  expedition  was  to  come.  Colonel 
Lamon's  remark  convinced  me  that  the  idea, 
merely  hinted  at  to  me  by  Colonel  Fox,  would 
not  be  carried  out. 

"  We  shall  strive  to  do  our  duty,  though  I 
frankly  say  that  my  heart  is  not  in  this  war, 
which  I  see  is  to  be  thus  commenced.  That 
God  will  still  avert  it,  and  cause  us  to  resort 


62  JEFFERSON  DAVIS. 

to  pacific   means   to   maintain  our    rights,   is 
my  ardent  prayer. 

"  I  am,  Colonel,  very  respectfully, 

"  Your  obedient  servant, 

"  ROBERT  ANDERSON, 
"Major,  First  Artillery,  commanding." 

The  Count  of  Paris  libels  the  memory  of 
Major  Anderson,  and  perverts  the  truth  of 
history  in  this,  as  he  has  done  in  other  par 
ticulars,  by  saying,  with  reference  to  the  visit 
of  Captain  Fox  to  the  Fort,  that,  "  having 
visited  Anderson  at  Fort  Sumter,  a  plan  had 
been  agreed  upon  between  them  for  revictual- 
ling  the  garrison  "  ("  Civil  War  in  America," 
authorized  translation,  vol.  I.,  p.  137).  Fox 
himself  says,  in  his  published  letter,  "  I  made 
no  arrangements  with  Major  Anderson  for 
supplying  the  fort,  nor  did  I  inform  him  of 
my  plan ;  "  and  Major  Anderson,  in  the  letter 
above,  says  the  idea  had  been  "  merely  hinted 
at "  by  Captain  Fox,  and  that  Colonel  Lamon 
had  led  him  to  believe  that  it  had  been  aban 
doned. 

When  General  Beauregard  discovered  that 
Major  Anderson  was  endeavoring  to  strength 
en,  in  place  of  evacuating,  Fort  Sumter,  the 
Commissioners  wrote  an  interrogatory  note  to 
discover  the  facts,  and  were  assured  by  Mr. 
Seward  that  the  Government  had  not  reced- 


PEACE  PROPOSITIONS.  63 

ed  from  his  promise.  On  April  7th,  Mr.  Sew- 
ard  sent  the  message,  "  Faith  as  to  Sumter 
fully  kept ;  wait  and  see."  On  that  day  the 
Federal  fleet  with  a  large  force  sailed  for 
Sumter,  and  the  Commissioners  left  Wash 
ington,  hopeless  of  accomplishing  anything. 

"That  these  assurances  were  given  has 
been  virtually  confessed  by  the  Government 
of  the  United  States,  by  its  act  of  sending  a 
messenger  to  Charleston  to  give  notice  of  its 
purpose  to  use  force,  if  opposed,  in  its  inten 
tion  of  supplying  Fort  Sumter."* 

"  No  more  striking  proof  of  the  absence  of 
good  faith  in  the  conduct  of  the  Government 
of  the  United  States  toward  the  Confederacy 
can  be  required  than  is  contained  in  the  cir 
cumstances  which  accompanied  this  notice. 

"  According  to  the  usual  course  of  naviga 
tion,  the  vessels  composing  the  expedition, 
and  designed  for  the  relief  of  Fort  Sumter, 
might  be  looked  for  in  Charleston  harbor  on 
April  Qth.  Yet  our  Commissioners  in  Wash 
ington  were  detained  under  assurances  that 
notice  should  be  given  of  any  military  move 
ment.  The  notice  was  not  addressed  to 
them,  but  a  messenger  was  sent  to  Charles 
ton  to  give  notice  to  the  Governor  of  South 


*See  Rise  and  Fall  of  the  Confederacy,  Appendix  L,  p.  "675, 
vol.  i. 


64  JEFFERSON  DAVIS. 

Carolina,  and  the  notice  was  so  given  at  a 
late  hour  on  April  8th,  the  eve  of  the  very 
day  on  which  the  fleet  might  be  expected  to 
arrive. 

"  That  this  manoeuvre  failed  in  its  purpose 
was  not  the  fault  of  those  who  controlled  it. 
A  heavy  tempest  delayed  the  arrival  of  the 
expedition  and  gave  time  to  the  commander 
of  our  forces  at  Charleston  to  ask  and  receive 
instructions  of  the  Government/' 


CHAPTER   VII. 

PREPARATIONS   FOR  WAR. 

THE  troops  received  were  tendered  by  in 
dependent  organizations,  "  or  who  may  volun 
teer  by  consent  of  their  State "  for  twelve 
months,  unless  sooner  discharged.  There  was 
a  strong  disinclination  to  a  longer  term  being 
prescribed.  The  arms  and  munitions  within 
the  limits  of  the  States  were  their  property, 
they  were  received  with  their  State  organiza 
tion,  and  officered  by  the  State,  and  on  March 
1 6th,  the  States  were  recommended  to  cede 
the  forts,  arsenals,  navy  and  dock  yards,  and 
all  other  public  establishments  to  the  Confed 
erate  States.  May  6,  1861,  the  army  of  the 
Confederate  States  was  lawfully  established 
in  contra-distinction  to  the  Provisional  army. 

The  relative  rank  of  the  officers  of  the 
Confederate  States  was  regulated  by  the  po 
sition  that  they  had  previously  held  in  the 
United  States  army,  or  to  which  they  had 
been  elected  or  appointed  in  their  State. 
The  right  of  the  States  to  confer  the  grade 
of  colonel  was  secured  ;  a  higher  grade  might 
be  by  selection. 
VOL.  II.— 5 


66  JEFFERSON  DA  VIS. 

The  three  highest  officers  of  the  Confeder 
ate  army,  "  whose  fame  stands  unchallenged 
either  for  efficiency  or  zeal,"  were  all  so  indif 
ferent  to  any  question  of  personal  interest  that 
they  had  received  their  appointment  before 
they  were  aware  it  was  to  be  conferred. 
The  order  of  their  rank  was  :  General  Samuel 
Cooper,  Albert  Sidney  Johnston,  and  Robert 
E.  Lee.  When  General  A.  S.  Johnston  was  as 
signed  to  the  West,  he  for  the  first  time  asked 
and  learned  what  relative  position  he  would 
serve.  General  Lee,  in  like  manner,  when  he 
was  assigned  to  duty  beyond  the  limits  of 
Virginia,  learned  for  the  first  time  his  in 
creased  rank.  Brevet  Lieutenant-Colonel  A. 
C.  Meyers  was  appointed  Quartermaster-Gen 
eral  ;  Captain  L.  B.  Northrop  was  appointed 
to  command  the  Subsistence  Department.  He 
made  no  memoir  of  his  service,  and  Mr.  Davis 
could  not  notice  it  inextenso.  Surgeon-Gen 
eral  Moore,  from  the  Materia  Medica  of  the 
South,  supplemented  the  lack  of  drugs  made 
contraband  of  war,  and  by  the  aid  of  his  own 
ingenuity  and  that  of  his  corps,  supplied  the 
surgical  instruments,  which  were  unfortunately 
scarce  and  especially  needful  for  the  hospitals 
in  the  field. 

General  Gorgas  was  appointed  Chief  of 
Ordnance,  and  if  space  were  permitted  to 
particularize  the  incalculable  service  he  ren- 


PREPARATIONS  FOR    WAR.  67 

dered,  the  offering  would  be  gladly  made  to 
the  memory  of  one  who  was  as  unpretending 
as  he  was  useful  and  devoted  to  the  cause. 

Captain  Semmes  was  sent  to  the  North  to 
buy  guns  and  all  the  available  arms  in  the 
market,  and  also  to  get  machinery  and  arti 
sans  for  Government  arsenals  and  shops ;  he 
ably  performed  the  service,  but  the  interven 
tion  of  the  civil  authorities  prevented  the  de 
livery  of  the  arms  and  machinery.  He  was 
also  directed  to  buy  vessels  suitable  for  de 
fensive  and  offensive  use,  but  unfortunately 
could  find  none.  Major  Huse  was  sent  to 
Europe,  on  the  third  day  after  Mr.  Davis  s 
inauguration,  to  buy  arms  there.  He  found 
few  serviceable  arms  on  the  market,  but  made 
such  extensive  contracts  that,  to  bring  them 
through  the  blockade,  was  after  this  the  only 
difficulty  encountered. 

In  the  shop  of  the  Government  gun  repair 
ers  was  a  musket  from  the  Tower  of  London, 
made  in  1762  ;  it  might  have  been  fired  in  the 
Revolutionary  war  of  1776,  taken  part  in  the 
Indian  wars,  in  the  war  of  1812,  in  the  Indian 
wars  of  1836  and  1837,  in  the  Mexican  war  of 
1845,  and  last  in  the  war  between  the  States. 

The  appropriations  for  the  Navy  had  for 
years  been  mainly  spent  upon  the  Northern 
navy-yards,  notwithstanding  that  much  of  the 
timber  used  had  been  from  the  South.  We 


68  JEFFERSON  DAVIS. 

had  not  the  accessories  for  building  vessels 
with  the  necessary  celerity ;  we  had  no  pow 
der  depots,  and  no  store  of  it  on  hand,  no 
saltpetre,  and  only  the  store  of  sulphur  need 
ful  for  clarifying"  the  cane-sugar  crop. 

General  G.  W.  Rains  was  appointed  to 
establish  a  manufactory  of  ammunition,  and 
he  brought  to  the  work  experience  and  zeal 
which  achieved  a  triumph  that  will  be  long 
remembered.  The  powder  of  the  Confeder 
ate  mills,  under  all  the  disadvantages  that  sur 
rounded  him,  was  recognized  to  be  the  best 
in  the  world. 

On  April  19,  1861,  President  Lincoln  pro 
claimed  a  blockade,  not  as  the  effort  to  em 
barrass  and  destroy  the  commerce  of  a  sep 
arate  nation,  but  to  subdue  insurrection. 

Mr.  Davis  wrote  of  the  false  presentation 
of  the  case  to  foreign  governments  made  by 
Mr.  Seward : 

"As  late  as  April  22,  1861,  Mr.  Seward, 
the  United  States  Secretary  of  State,  in  a  de 
spatch  to  Mr.  Dayton,  Minister  to  France, 
since  made  public,  expressed  the  views  and 
purposes  of  the  United  States  Government  in 
the  premises  as  follows.  It  may  be  proper  to 
explain  that,  by  what  he  is  pleased  to  term 
'  the  Revolution/  Mr.  Seward  means  the 
withdrawal  of  the  Southern  States  ;  and  that 
the  words  italicized  are,  perhaps,  not  so  dis- 


PREPARATIONS  FOR  WAR.  69 

tinguished  in  the  original."  He  wrote : 
"  The  Territories  will  remain  in  all  respects 
the  same,  whether  the  revolution  shall  suc 
ceed  or  fail." 

"  There  is  not  even  a  pretext  for  the  com 
plaint  that  the  disaffected  States  are  to  be 
conquered  by  the  United  States  if  the  revolu 
tion  fails  ;  for  the  rights  of  the  States  and  the 
condition  of  every  being  in  them  will  remain 
subject  to  exactly  the  same  laws  and  forms  of 
administration,  whether  the  revolution  shall 
succeed  or  whether  it  shall  fail.  In  one  case 
the  States  would  be  federally  connected  with 
the  new  Confederacy  ;  in  the  other  they  would, 
as  now,  be  members  of  the  United  States  ; 
but  their  Constitutions,  laws,  customs,  habits, 
and  institutions,  in  either  case,  will  remain  the 
same." 

Mr.  Lincoln  said  in  his  inaugural  address  : 
"  I  have  no  purpose  directly  or  indirectly  to 
interfere  with  the  institution  of  slavery  in  the 
States  where  it  exists  ;  I  believe  I  have  no 
lawful  right  to  do  so,  and  I  have  no  inclina 
tion  to  do  so." 

The  President  of  the  Confederacy  called 
the  Congress  together  April  29th,  and  set  be 
fore  them  the  fact  that  the  President  of  the 
United  States  had  called  out  seventy-five 
thousand  men,  who  were  first  to  capture  our 
forts.  A  blockade  had  been  proclaimed  to 


70  JEFFERSON  DAVIS. 

destroy  our  commerce  and  intercept  the  nec 
essary  supplies.  This  he  declared  was  in  ef 
fect  a  declaration  of  war.  He  closed  his  mes 
sage  with  these  words  :  "  We  protest  solemnly 
in  the  face  of  mankind,  that  we  desire  peace 
at  any  sacrifice  save  that  of  honor." 

No  one  who  scrutinizes  impartially  the  his 
tory  of  this  stirring  period  of  Mr.  Davis's  life 
can  fail  to  observe  the  activity  with  which  he 
pressed  every  available  resource  into  service, 
how  large  was  the  discretion  allowed  to  the 
government  agents,  and  how  prompt  and  far- 
reaching  were  his  provisions.  His  previous 
service  in  the  United  States  War  Department 
had  rendered  him  familiar  with  all  the  sources 
of  supply,  and  all  that  man  could  accomplish 
he  did  to  equip  our  army  and  navy  to  meet 
the  heavy  odds  with  which  they  were  con 
fronted. 

Nitre  beds  were  established,  manufactories 
of  arms  and  powder  were  erected  with  mar 
vellous  celerity,  old  arms  were  altered,  men 
were  drilled  and  initiated  in  the  arts  of  war  ; 
in  fact,  his  activity  was  unceasing  and  his  suc 
cess  abnormal. 

That  large  and  learned,  if  not  useful,  class 
who  after  the  event  see  lost  opportunities, 
criminal  negligence,  and  a  supine  disregard  of 
the  interest  of  the  people,  demonstrated  by 
the  leaders  of  a  cause  for  which  they  have 


PREPARATIONS  FOR    WAR.  71 

staked  their  all,  have  not  been  silent  at  the 
Confederate  President's  failure  to  buy  every 
thing  needful  everywhere.  The  fame  of  an 
unsuccessful  leader  is  like  the  picture  in  the 
fable.  Each  hypercritical  spectator  picks  out 
an  error  and  obliterates  the  trait,  until,  were 
there  not  true  artists  with  high  aims  and  God- 
given  talents  and  enthusiasm,  there  would  re 
main  to  us  no  presentation  of  the  noble  fig 
ure  of  a  heroic  ruler. 

If  Moses  found,  in  the  theocratic  govern 
ment  he  served,  a  golden  calf  lifted  on  high 
under  the  blaze  of  the  "  pillar  of  fire  by  night," 
one  cannot  wonder  at  my  husband's  fate. 

Detraction  is  the  easiest  form  of  criticism 
or  eloquence,  but  just,  discriminating  praise 
requires  the  presence  in  the  commentators  of 
many  of  those  qualities  which  are  commend 
ed  in  the  subject.  It  is  probable  that  Junius 
would  have  made  a  sorry  figure  in  the  place 
of  either  Lords  Mansfield  or  Chatham. 

Before  going  further  into  the  record  of  the 
invasion  of  the  seceded  slave-holding  States, 
and  the  subjugation  of  those  that  still  re 
mained  in  the  Union,  it  seems  proper  to 
glance  briefly  at  the  relative  resources  of  the 
two  powers  that  were  so  soon  to  be  arrayed 
against  each  other  in  deadly  conflict  a  tou- 
trance. 

In   1860  the  United  States  had  a  popula- 


72  JEFFERSON  DA  VIS. 

tion  exceeding  thirty -one  millions  in  the  free 
States  and  eight  millions  in  the  South. 

But  the  disparity  between  the  two  sections 
was  more  pronounced  in  the  material  re 
sources  of  war  than  in  the  population.  The 
Missouri  was  connected  with  the  sea-board 
by  the  best  system  of  railways  in  the  world, 
having  a  total  mileage  of  over  thirty  thou 
sand,  and  an  annual  tonnage  estimated  at 
thirty-six  millions.  The  annual  revenue  of 
this  tonnage  was  valued  at  four  thousand  mil 
lions  of  dollars.  The  manufactures  of  the 
North  represented  an  annual  product  of  two 
thousand  millions. 

The  North  had  all  the  manufacturing  es 
tablishments  necessary  to  produce  all  the 
materiel  of  war.  She  had  an  uninterrupted 
commerce  with  the  outside  world.  Altogeth 
er,  her  manufacturing  resources  were  about 
five  hundred  to  one  compared  with  those  of 
the  South.  She  had  in  addition  to  this  the 
inestimable  advantage  of  having  all  the  work 
shops  of  the  world  open  to  her. 

Nor  did  Europe  furnish  her  with  the  ma 
teriel  of  war  only  ;  but  the  vast  immigration 
that  flocked  from  the  Old  World  and  landed 
in  Northern  ports  brought  an  unfailing  sup 
ply  of  recruits  to  her  armies  whenever  the 
emergencies  of  the  war  made  a  fresh  levy  nee 
essary  to  refill  the  depleted  armies  in  the  field. 


PREPARATIONS  FOR    WAR.  73 

The  fury  of  the  North  was  met  by  a  cy 
clone  of  patriotic  enthusiasm  that  swept  up 
from  the  South.  Tens  of  thousands  of  men 
of  both  sections  who  had  hesitated,  and  who 
still  hoped  for  an  amicable  adjustment  of  the 
troubles  between  the  sections,  were  converted 
by  the  guns  of  Sumter  to  the  belief  that  the 
time  for  compromise  had  passed,  and  that 
duty  to  their  country  demanded  that  they 
should  join  in  patriotic  efforts  to  repel  the  in 
vader.  When  this  "  ground  swell "  moved 
the  masses  at  the  North,  the  Confederate 
Congress  was  still  in  session ;  Mr.  Davis, 
who  had  never  underestimated  our  peril, 
issued  a  proclamation  calling  on  the  States 
for  volunteers,  and  also  inviting  applications 
for  privateers  to  sail  the  high  seas  under 
Confederate  letters  of  marque  and  reprisal. 

Agents  were  despatched  to  foreign  coun 
tries  to  buy  small-arms,  guns,  and  ships  with 
their  armaments.  No  limit  was  placed  upon 
the  amount  to  be  purchased,  or  the  price. 
The  Confederate  credit  was  good,  and  their 
President  was  willing  to  strain  it  to  the  ut 
most.  Prompt,  general,  and  enthusiastic  was 
the  popular  response  to  the  appeal  of  the 
President.  Railway  and  transportation  com 
panies  offered  the  free  use  of  their  lines  and 
resources  for  the  conveyance  of  troops  and 
materiel  of  war.  The  railways  not  only  vol- 


74  JEFFERSON  DA  VIS. 

untarily  reduced  the  charges  hitherto  de 
manded  for  the  postal  service,  but  offered  to 
receive  their  pay  at  the  reduced  rates  ten 
dered  in  the  bonds  of  the  Confederacy. 

The  number  of  volunteers  far  exceeded  the 
demand  or  the  possibility  of  arming  them. 
It  was  shown  that  if  the  Government  had 
possessed  arms  enough  for  the  entire  adult 
white  population  of  the  Confederacy,  they 
could  have  been  enrolled  at  this  time.  Not 
withstanding  that  men  have  railed  long  and 
loudly  over  '  volunteers  having  been  refused, 
they  knew  at  the  time  that,  having  no  wea 
pons  with  which  to  arm  them,  to  accept  their 
services  was  but  to  cripple  the  industries  of 
the  country  without  increasing  the  ranks  of 
our  defenders. 

On  May  20,  1861,  the  Congress  resolved 
that  the  seat  of  Government  of  the  Confeder 
ate  States  should  be  transferred  from  Mont 
gomery  to  Richmond,  and  that  it  should  ad 
journ  to  meet  there  on  July  2oth.  It  had 
already  become  evident  that  Virginia  would 
be  the  battle-ground  of  the  coming  struggle, 
and  it  was  desirable,  therefore,  that  the  Con 
federate  Government  should  have  its  head 
quarters  in  that  State. 

Anxiety  and  unremitting  labor  had  pros 
trated  President  Davis ;  and,  when  he  left 
Montgomery,  it  was  upon  his  bed.  His  mails 


PREPARATIONS  FOR    WAR.  7$ 

were  heavy  with  warnings  of  an  attempt  at 
assassination  ;  therefore  it  was  a  source  of  re 
lief  to  us  to  know  he  had  gone  to  Virginia. 
A  few  days  before  he  had  seen  a  man  heavily 
armed  peering  into  his  room  at  our  residence  ; 
he  accosted  him,  but  the  man  jumped  over  a 
fence  and  ran  out  of  sight.  He  went  on,  ac 
companied  only  by  his  cabinet  and  staff,  and 
in  advance  of  the  rest  of  the  family.  He 
was  quite  ill  on  the  road  and  obliged  to  keep 
his  bed.  The  crowd  that  gathered  at  each 
station  would  walk  quietly  down  and  look  in 
on  his  sleeping  face  with  the  greatest  tender 
ness  ;  one  or  two  said — "  If  he  can  only  pull 
through  the  war  !  " 

Within  a  week,  the  family  followed  by  the 
ordinary  train.  The  country  was  alive  with 
soldiers — men  in  butternut  trousers  with  gray 
homespun  coats  and  epaulets  of  yellow  cotton 
fringe.  Several  companies  of  soldiers  waiting 
for  transportation  gave  us  very  sweet  sere 
nades  at  the  different  stations.  We  reached 
Richmond  in  the  morning,  and  the  President 
met  us  in  a  carriage  and  four,  sent  down  for 
our  use  by  the  citizens  until  our  own  carriage 
and  horses  came.  This  equipage  was  a  trial 
to  us,  and  as  soon  as  possible  we  reduced  our 
establishment  to  a  carriage  and  pair.  We 
were  conducted  to  the  Spottswood  Hotel  as 
guests  of  the  city,  until  the  house  intended 


76 

for  the  residence  of  the  Chief  Executive 
should  be  finished.  In  the  hotel  we  were 
domiciled  with  the  cabinet  and  the  aids,  be 
sides  a  number  of  ladies  and  gentlemen. 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

THE  BOMBARDMENT  OF  SUMTER. 

ON  March  3d,  President  Davis  appointed 
General  Beauregard  to  the  command  of  all 
the  Confederate  forces  in  and  around  Charles 
ton. 

On  arriving  there,  General  Beauregard, 
after  examining  the  fortifications,  proceeded  to 
erect  formidable  batteries  of  cannon  and  mor 
tars  bearing  on  the  fort. 

On  April  7th,  Lieutenant  Talbot,  an  agent 
of  the  Federal  Government,  conveyed  a  mes 
sage  to  Governor  Pickens  from  President 
Lincoln,  announcing  that  an  attempt  would  be 
made  to  supply  Fort  Sumter  "  with  provisions 
only,"  and  that  if  the  attempt  be  not  resisted 
no  effort  to  throw  in  men,  arms,  or  ammuni 
tion  would  be  made  without  further  notice,  or 
in  case  of  an  attack  upon  the  fort. 

"  The  'relief  squadron,'  as  with  unconscious 
irony  it  was  termed,  was  already  under  way 
for  Charleston,  consisting,  according  to  their 
own  statement,  of  eight  vessels  carrying 
twenty-six  guns,  and  about  fourteen  hundred 


78  JEFFERSON  DAVIS. 

men,  including  the  troops  sent  for  reinforce 
ment  of  the  garrison." 

Upon  the  receipt  of  General  Beauregard's 
telegram,  that  provisions  would  be  sent  to 
Fort  Sumter,  forcibly  if  need  be,  he  was  di 
rected  by  the  Secretary  of  War  to  demand  its 
surrender  at  twelve  o'clock,  on  April  nth. 
The  demand  was  accordingly  made  in  a  note 
borne  by  Colonel  James  Chesnut  and  Cap 
tain  Lee,  with  the  offer  of  permission  for  Ma 
jor  Anderson  to  salute  the  flag  he  had  upheld 
with  so  much  fortitude."  Major  Anderson 
made  answer  on  the  same  day,  that  he  re 
gretted  that  his  sense  of  honor  and  of  obliga 
tion  to  his  government  would  not  permit  him 
to  accede  to  the  demand  of  General  Beaure- 
gard. 

Next  day  at  4.30  A.M.  the  signal  was  given 
from  Fort  Johnston  ;  the  fire  was  gradually 
followed  by  shots  from  Moultrie,  Cummings' 
Point,  and  the  floating  battery. 

Fort  Sumter  did  not  reply  until  seven 
o'clock.  The  firing  continued  all  day.  Dur 
ing  the  bombardment  a  portion  of  the  Federal 
fleet  rendezvoused  off  Charleston,  but  took  no 
part  in  the  fight. 

Early  on  the  morning  of  the  I3th  the  Con 
federate  batteries  renewed  the  bombardment, 
concentrating  their  fire  on  Fort  Sumter,  which 
directed  a  vigorous  fire  on  Fort  Moultrie. 


THE  BOMBARDMENT  OF  SUMTER.    79 

About  eight  o'clock  in  the  morning,  smoke 
was  seen  issuing  from  Fort  Sumter.  The 
fire  of  the  Confederate  batteries  was  there 
upon  increased  and  concentrated  on  the  fort, 
whose  flag  still  floated.  After  this  time,  al 
though  Fort  Sumter  continued  to  fire  from 
time  to  time,  the  shots  came  at  irregular 
periods,  amid  thick  smoke  and  bursting  shells. 
The  Confederate  soldiers,  at  every  discharge 
from  the  fort,  jumped  on  the  different  bat 
teries  and  cheered  the  garrison  for  its  gallant 
defence,  while  they  hooted  the  fleet  that  lay 
alongside  the  bar,  an  idle  spectator  of  the 
fight. 

At  half-past  one  a  shot  struck  the  flag 
staff  of  Sumter  and  brought  down  the  ensign. 
By  this  time  the  condition  of  the  fort  and  its 
defences  had  become  desperate  ;  the  parapet 
had  been  so  badly  damaged  that  few  of  the 
guns  were  in  position  ;  the  smoke  in  the 
casemates  rendered  it  impossible  for  the  men 
to  work  the  guns  ;  and  the  incessant  toil  and 
excitement  had  utterly  exhausted  the  garrison. 

When  the  flag  went  down  General  Beaure- 
gard  sent  offers  of  assistance,  as  the  con 
flagration  was  apparently  on  the  increase. 

Before  the  General's  aids  reached  the  fort 
the  flag  was  again  displayed,  but  it  was  soon 
hauled  down  and  a  white  flag  substituted. 
Fort  Sumter, had  surrendered. 


8o  JEFFERSON  DAVIS. 

As  an  honorable  testimony  to  the  gallantry 
of  the  garrison,  Major  Anderson  was  allowed 
on  leaving  the  fort  to  salute  his  flag  with 
fifty  guns. 

Notwithstanding  the  heavy  and  long  can 
nonading  not  a  man  was  killed  or  wounded 
on  either  side  ;  a  mule  was  the  only  thing 
slain.  But,  in  firing  the  parting  salute,  a 
cannon  exploded.  Four  of  the  garrison  were 
mortally  wounded  by  this  accident. 

The  victory  was  celebrated  in  Charleston 
by  the  firing  of  cannon  and  the  pealing  of 
bells,  and  by  every  form  of  popular  demon 
stration  of  delight. 

When  the  news  reached  the  President  of 
the  Confederacy  his  first  expression  was  of 
thankfulness  that  no  blood  had  been  shed ; 
he  said  "  Separation  is  not  yet  of  necessity 
final — there  has  been  no  blood  spilled  more 
precious  than  that  of  a  mule."  He  then 
spoke  of  his  old  friend  "  Bob  Anderson,"  of 
his  splendid  gallantry,  and  of  his  sorrow  at 
being  separated  from  him. 

In  the  North,  the  news  produced  a  simul 
taneous  burst  of  execration  and  excitement. 
For  the  first  time  the  people  of  that  section 
realized  that  the  South  was  in  deadly  earnest. 
The  Federal  administration  promptly  availed 
themselves  of  the  frenzy  of  the  people  to 
arouse  fresh  hatred  of  the  South,  and  to  incite 


THE  BOMBARDMENT  OF  SUMTER.          81 

the  young1  men  to  enlist  in  the  armies  of  inva 
sion.  Two  days  after  Sumter  surrendered 
President  Lincoln  issued  a  proclamation  call 
ing"  for  75,000  troops. 

The  first  effect  of  this  proclamation  in.  the 
South  was  the  secession  of  Virginia — an  ex 
ample  which  was  promptly  followed  by  the 
States  of  North  Carolina,  Tennessee,  and 
Arkansas. 

That  the  real  object  of  Lincoln's  renewed 
calls  for  troops  was  the  unconditional  subju 
gation  of  the  South,  was  soon  made  manifest; 
for,  by  repeated  levies,  there  were  soon  200,- 
ooo  men  under  arms  in  the  Northern  States. 

Maryland  was  overrun  with  troops  ;  a 
garrison  of  12,000  men  was  established  at 
Fortress  Monroe  ;  in  Maryland  and  Missouri, 
the  citizens  were  disarmed,  the  habeas  corpus 
was  denied  them,  and  civil  liberty  was  throttled 
by  the  mailed  hand  of  military  power. 

Maryland,  at  the  inception  of  secession,  re 
solved,  for  purposes  of  pacification  and  other 
reasons,  to  remain  neutral.  The  authorities 
refused  the  right  of  United  States  troops  to 
pass  through  her  domain  with  hostile  intent 
toward  the  South,  announced  her  determina 
tion  not  to  send  her  troops  to  the  soil  of  any 
other  State,  and  Governor  Hicks  officially  de 
manded  new  guarantees  for  her  rights,  and 
proclaimed  her  sympathy  with  the  Southern 

VOL.  II.— 6 


82  JEFFERSON  DAVIS. 

people.  On  April  19,  1861,  a  body  of  troops 
was  brought  to  the  railway  depot,  and  the 
citizens,  being  unarmed,  assailed  them  with 
stones.  The  soldiers  fired  upon  them,  and 
killed  a  few  and  wounded  many.  A  few 
troops  passed  through  the  town,  and  the 
others  were  sent  back. 

The  Legislature  of  Maryland  appointed 
commissioners  to  the  two  Governments.  The 
Confederate  President,  on  April  2ist,  in  an 
answer  to  those  sent  to  him,  expressed  his  de 
sire  for  "  peace,  peace,  with  all  nations  and 
people."  The  President  of  the  United  States 
alleged  the  protection  of  Washington  as  his 
only  object  for  concentrating  troops,  and  pro 
tested  that  none  of  the  troops  brought  through 
Maryland  were  "  intended  for  any  purposes 
hostile  to  the  State,  or  aggressive  against 
other  States." 

The  sequence  to  these  pledges  was,  that, 
on  May  5th,  the  Relay  House,  at  the  junction 
of  the  Washington  and  Baltimore  railways, 
was  occupied  by  Federal  troops,  and  General 
Butler,  on  the  I3th  instant,  moved  to  Balti 
more  and  occupied  with  the  United  States 
troops,  Federal  Hill.  Reinforcements  were 
received  the  next  day,  and  the  General  pro 
claimed  his  right  to  discriminate  between 
"  well-disposed  citizens  "  and  those  who  did 
not  agree  with  him,  they  who  he  opprobri- 


THE  BOMBARDMENT  OF  SUMTER.          83 

ously  characterized.  Then  followed  a  de 
mand  for  the  surrender  of  arms. 

"  The  mayor,  Charles  Howard,  and  police 
commissioners,  W.  H.  Gatchell,  and  J.  W. 
Davis/'  met  and  protested  against  the  sus 
pension  of  their  functions  by  the  appointment 
of  a  provost-marshal,  but  resolved  to  do 
nothing  to  obstruct  General  Banks  in  his  ar 
rangements  for  the  preservation  of  the  peace 
of  the  city. 

The  provost-marshal  at  once  commenced 
a  series  of  domiciliary  visits,  ostensibly  in 
search  of  arms  and  munitions.  On  July  ist, 
the  before-named  citizens  were  arrested.  Of 
the  mayor,  Mr.  Davis  said,  "  He  was  of  an 
old  Maryland  family  honored  for  their  public 
services,  and  himself  adorned  by  every  social 
virtue." 

A  provost-marshal  was  sent  to  Frederick, 
where  the  Legislature  was  in  session.  A 
cordon  of  pickets  were  drawn  around  the 
town,  out  of  which  no  one  could  go  without  a 
permission  from  General  Banks  or  his  staff. 
Twelve  or  thirteen  members  and  some  officers 
of  the  Legislature  were  arrested.  The  quo 
rum  was  destroyed.  S.  T.  Willis,  whose  re 
port  in  defence  of  the  constitutional  rights  of 
his  fellow-citizens  was  considered  cause  for 
imprisonment,  and  Henry  May,  a  member  of 
Congress,  were  arrested. 


84  JEFFERSON  DAVIS. 

Governor  Hicks  found  himself  convinced 
by  these  strenuous  measures,  and  came  out 
in  sympathy  with  the  successful  party. 

Mr.  Davis  said :  "  Last  in  order,  but  first  in 
cordiality,  were  the  tender  ministrations  of 
Maryland's  noble  daughters  to  the  sick  and 
wounded  prisoners  who  were  carried  through 
the  streets  of  Baltimore,  and  it  is  with  shame 
we  remember  that  brutal  guards,  on  several 
occasions,  inflicted  wounds  upon  gentlewomen 
who  approached  these  suffering  prisoners  to 
offer  them  the  relief  of  which  they  stood  so 
ardently  in  need."  One  dear  and  much  hon 
ored  young  friend  ruined  her  eyes  painting 
photographs  for  sale,  after  having  used  to  the 
fullest  extent  all  her  own  available  means  to 
aid  the  Southern  soldiers.  Union  ladies  who 
had  held  close  relations  with  those  of  Con 
federate  sympathies,  forced  an  entrance  into 
the  houses  of  their  quondam  friends  to  make 
a  report  of  disloyalty  upon  them.  In  the 
worst  days  of  the  French  Revolution  there 
was  no  more  insecurity  for  the  exercise  of 
free  opinions  than  that  which  prevailed  in  Bal 
timore. 

The  citizens  were  conveyed  to  P'ortress 
Monroe  and  eventually  to  Fort  Lafayette, 
and  turned  into  a  battery-room  occupied  by 
twenty  -  four  others,  chiefly  Marylanders. 
The  Government  furnished  an  iron  bed,  a 


THE  BOMBARDMENT  OF  SUMTER.         85 

pallet  of  straw,  and  a  thin  blanket ;  but  five 
bags  of  straw  could  be  found,  and  the  rest  of 
the  prisoners  slept  on  the  floor  in  their 
clothes.  The  room  was  sixty-six  by  twenty- 
two  feet,  with  a  brick  floor,  occupied  by 
thirty-eight  people.  It  contained  also  five 
thirty-two-pound  cannon  with  their  cumber 
some  carriages,  occupying  fully  half  the  space 
in  the  room. 

Several  of  the  sick  were  on  the  floor  with 
out  either  blankets  or  pillows.  No  light  was 
allowed.  It  is  weary  work  recalling  these 
dreadful  experiences,  but  the  deep  feeling  of 
hostility  it  aroused  is  seen  in  the  appeal  of 
General  Bradley  T.  Johnson  in  the  autumn 
of  the  next  year  : 

"  Rise  at  once.  Remember  the  cells  of 
Fort  McHenry.  Remember  the  dungeons  of 
Fort  Lafayette  and  Fort  Warren  ;  the  insults 
to  your  wives  and  daughters  ;  the  arrests ; 
the  midnight  searches  of  your  houses. 

"  Remember  these  your  wrongs,  and  rise 
at  once  in  arms  and  strike  for  Liberty  and 
Right." 


CHAPTER   IX. 

THE  PRESIDENT  ARRIVES  IN  RICHMOND. 

RICHMOND  was  one  great  camp — men  hur 
ried  to  and  fro  with  and  without  uniforms  and 
arms,  with  that  fixed  look  upon  their  faces 
that  they  acquire  when  confronted  with  dan 
ger  and  the  necessity  for  supreme  effort.  A 
long  war  debases  a  nation,  but  individuals 
rise  higher  then  and  develop  more  quickly 
than  in  piping  times  of  peace. 

Upon  the  President's  arrival  in  Richmond 
he  found  General  R.  E.  Lee  in  command  of 
the  army  of  Virginia,  with  the  rank  of  Major- 
General. 

Many  troops  had  been  sent  from  other 
States  of  the  Confederacy  to  the  aid  of  Vir 
ginia,  and  the  forces  there  assembled  were  di 
vided  into  three  armies,  at  the  most  important 
positions  threatened :  one,  under  command  of 
General  J.  E.  Johnston,  at  Harper's  Ferry, 
covering  the  valley  of  the  Shenandoah  ;  an 
other  under  General  G.  T.  Beauregard,  at 
Manassas,  covering  the  direct  approach  from 
Washington  to  Richmond  ;  and  the  third,  un 
der  Generals  Huger  and  Magruder,  at  Norfolk 


THE  PRESIDENT  ARRIVES  IN  RICHMOND.    87 

and  in  the  Peninsula  between  the  James  and, 
York  Rivers,  covering  the  approach  from  the 
seaboard.  The  armies  of  Johnston  and  Beau- 
regard,  though  separated  by  the  Blue  Ridge, 
had  such  practicable  communication  with  each 
other  as  to  render  their  junction  possible  when 
the  necessity  should  be  foreseen. 

Each  of  the  three  were  confronted  by  forces 
greatly  superior  to  their  own,  and  it  was 
doubtful  which  would  first  be  the  object  of 
attack. 

The  temporary  occupation  of  Harper's  Ferry 
was  especially  needful  for  the  removal  of  the 
valuable  machinery  and  material  located  there. 

The  demonstrations  of  General  Patterson, 
commanding  the  Federal  army  in  that  region, 
caused  General  Johnston  earnestly  to  insist 
upon  being  allowed  to  retire  to  a  position 
nearer  Winchester.  Under  the  circumstances 
an  official  letter  was  addressed  to  him,  from 
which  the  following  is  an  extract : 

"ADJUTANT  AND  INSPECTOR-GENERAL'S  OFFICE, 
"RICHMOND,  June  13,  1861. 

"  To  GENERAL  J.  E.  JOHNSTON,  commanding 

Harper's  Ferry,  Virginia. 

"  SIR  :   You  have  been  heretofore  instructed 

to  exercise  your  discretion  as  to  retiring  from 

your  position  at  Harper's  Ferry,  and  taking 

the  field  to  check  the  advance  of  the  enemy. 


M  JEFFERSON 

.  .  .  The  effective  portion  of  your  com 
mand,  together  with  the  baggage  and  what 
ever  else  would  impede  your  operations  in  the 
field,  it  would  be  well  to  send,  without  delay, 
to  the  Manassas  road.  .  .  .  For  these 
reasons  it  has  been  with  reluctance  that  any 
attempt  was  made  to  give  you  specific  instruc 
tions,  and  you  will  accept  the  assurance  of  the 
readiness  with  which  the  freest  exercise  of 
discretion  on  your  part  will  be  sustained. 
"  Very  respectfully,  your  obedient  servant, 

"  S.  COOPER." 

The  two  first  encounters  of  the  Northern 
and  Southern  troops  occurred  about  this  time. 
On  June  n,  18.61,  at  Bethel  Church,  and  on 
June  i8th  Colonel  Vaughan  met  the  enemy 
at  the  twenty-first  bridge  on  the  Baltimore 
&  Ohio  Railroad,  charged  upon  his  camp, 
captured  and  brought  off  two  pieces  of  artil 
lery  and  the  enemy's  flag. 

While  General  Johnston  was  keeping  the 
army  under  Patterson  in  check  in  the  Valley, 
a  disaster  to  the  Confederate  arms  occurred 
in  West  Virginia.  General  Garnett  was  de 
feated  at  Rich  Mountain  by  McClellan  and 
Rosecrans  and  forced  to  retreat.  General 
Garnett  was  killed. 

The  enemy  in  front  of  General  Johnston 
w.ere  reinforced,  and  he,  anticipating  an  attack 


THE  PRESIDENT  ARRIVES  IN  RICHMOND.  £9 

by  a  superior  force  wrote,  July  9,  1861,  to 
General  Cooper,  a  letter  of  which, the  follow 
ing"  extract  is  the  last  paragraph : 

"  If  it  is  proposed  to  strengthen  us  against 
the  attack  I  suggest  as  soon  to  be  made,  it 
seems  to  me  that  General  Beauregard  might, 
with  great  expedition,  furnish  five  or  six  thou 
sand  men  for  a  few  days.  J.  E.  J." 

The  enemy  did  not  attack  General  Johnston, 
but  the  Federal  army  in  front  of  Washington, 
under  General  McDowell,  advanced  to  attack 
the  army  of  General  Beauregard  at  Manassas, 
and  a  few  hours  before  they  took  up  their  line 
of  march,  a  lady  gave  notice  of  the  fact  to  the 
Confederates,  and  a  telegram  was  sent  to 
General  Johnston : 

"RICHMOND,  July  17,  1861. 

"  To  GENERAL  J.  E.  JOHNSTON, 

"  Winchester,  Va. 

"  General  Beauregard  is  attacked.  To 
strike  the  enemy  a  decisive  blow,  a  junction 
of  all  your  effective  force  will  be  needed.  If 
practicable,  make  the  movement,  sending  your 
sick  and  baggage  to  Culpepper  Court- House, 
either  by  railroad  or  by  Warrenton. 

"  In  all  the  arrangements  exercise  your  dis 
cretion. 

(Signed)  "  S.  COOPER, 

"  Adjutant  and  Inspector- General." 


90  JEFFERSON  DAVIS. 

To  this  telegram  General  Johnston  replied: 

"HEADQUARTERS,  WINCHESTER,  VA.,  July  18,  1861. 

"GENERAL:  I  have  had  the  honor  to  re 
ceive  your  telegram  of  yesterday. 

"  General  Patterson,  who  had  been  at  Bun 
ker  Hill  since  Monday,  seems  to  have  moved 
yesterday  to  Charleston,  twenty-three  miles 
east  of  Winchester. 

"  Unless  he  prevents  it,  we  shall  move  tow 
ard  General  Beauregard  to-day. 

"  JOSEPH  E.  JOHNSTON." 

After  Johnston  moved  to  join  Beauregard, 
he  telegraphed  an  inquiry  to  Mr.  Davis,  re 
garding  his  relative  rank  to  Beauregard,  and 
the  following  answer  was  returned  : 

"  RICHMOND,  July  20,  1861. 

"  GENERAL  J.  E.  JOHNSTON, 
"  Manassas,  Va. 

"  You  are  a  General  in  the  Confederate 
Army,  possessed  of  the  power  attached  to 
that  rank.  You  will  know  how  to  make  the 
exact  knowledge  of  Brigadier-General  Beau- 
regard,  as  well  of  the  ground  as  of  the  troops 
and  preparation,  avail  for  the  success  of  the 
object  in  which  you  co-operate. 

"  The  zeal  of  both  assures  me  of  harmo 
nious  action. 

"  JEFFERSON   DAVIS." 


CABINET  OF  THE  CONFEDERACY. 


THE  PRESIDENT  ARRIVES  iti  RICHMOND.    9! 

Though  the  date  of  General  Johnston's 
commission  gave  him  precedence,  to  avoid 
a  misunderstanding  between  these  generals, 
whose  cordial  co-operation  was  necessary  to 
the  welfare  of  their  country,  Mr.  Davis  de 
cided  at  the  earliest  moment  to  go  in  person 
to  the  army. 


CHAPTER  X. 


ENGAGEMENT  AT  BULL  RUN,  AND  BATTLE  OF 

MANASSAS. 


THE  Federal  Army  under  the  command  of 
General  McDowell  reached  the  vicinity  of 
Fairfax  Court-House  on  July  I7th,  and  Gen 
eral  Bonham,  commanding  that  advanced 
post  with  a  brigade  of  South  Carolina  troops, 
fell  back  and  took  position  behind  Bull  Run, 
where,  in  line  along  that  stream,  were  located 
the  different  regiments,  batteries,  and  brigades 
of  General  Beauregard's  army.  The  line  ex 
tended  a  distance  of  eight  miles  from  Union 
Mills  on  the  right,  to  the  stone  bridge  over 
Bull  Run  on  the  left,  where  it  is  crossed  by 
the  Warrenton  and  Alexandria  turnpike. 

McDowell,  arriving  at  Centreville,  threw 
forward,  on  the  i8th,  a  division  under  General 
Tyler,  to  "-feel"  General  Beauregard's  line, 
but  "  not  to  bring  on  an  engagement."  But 
General  Tyler,  brought  forward  a  battery  of 
the  Washington  Artillery  and  opened  fire 
upon  the  Confederates.  After  a  sharp  fight 
his  forces  were  withdrawn  with  loss. 

This  affair,  being  one  almost  exclusively  of 


ENGAGEMENT  AT  BULL  RUN.  93 

artillery,  was  a  notable  event,  and  gave  assur 
ance  that  our  volunteer  artillery  could  suc 
cessfully  cope  with  the  regular  batteries  of 
the  United  States.* 

This  battalion  of  veterans  formed  the  guard 
of  honor  which  followed  my  husband's  re 
mains  twenty-eight  years  afterward,  when  he 
was  laid  to  rest  in  the  Tomb  of  the  Army  of 
Northern  Virginia,  at  New  Orleans. 

General  Johnston  arrived  at  General  Beau- 
regard's  headquarters  on  July  2Oth.  While 
on  the  march,  Beauregard  sent  him  a  sugges 
tion  to  march  by  Aldie  and  attack  the  rear  of 
the  Federal  right  at  Centreville,  while  his 
troops  from  Bull  Run  assailed  that  army  in 
front.  Johnston  did  not  agree  with  this  plan, 
he  considered  it  impracticable  to  direct  the 
movements  of  troops  so  distant  from  each 
other,  by  roads  so  far  separated,  in  such  a 
manner  as  to  combine  their  action  on  a  field 
of  battle. 

Early  on  July  2ist,  a  cannonade  was 
opened  by  the  enemy  from  the  opposite  bank 
of  Bull  Run,  and  it  was  evident  that  he  was 
marching  against  the  left  of  the  Confederate 
line  of  battle,  at  and  beyond  the  stone  bridge. 


*  General  Beauregard,  in  his  official  report  of  the  engagement, 
says  :  "  The  guns  engaged  in  this  singular  conflict  on  our  side  were 
three  6-pounder  rifled  pieces  and  four  ordinary  6-pounders,  all  of 
Walton's  Battalion,  the  Washington  Artillery,  of  New  Orleans." 


94  JEFFERSON  DAVIS. 

The  troops  there  stationed  met  the  advance 
with  great  steadiness,  but  were  outnumbered, 
and  fell  back  to  the  plateau  around  the  Henry 
House. 

The  battle  raged  with  varied  success  upon 
the  Henry  plateau  until  after  four  o'clock, 
when  the  Federal  army  yielded  to  a  flank  at 
tack  of  Generals  Kirby  Smith,  with  Elzey, 
and  later  Early,  and  were  routed. 

Around  the  house  of  Mrs.  Henry  the  fight 
raged  the  fiercest,  and  here  were  stationed 
the  Federal  batteries.  Mrs.  Henry,  old  and 
bed-ridden,  was  caught  between  the  cross 
fire  of  the  artillery  and  was  killed  in  her  bed. 

The  details  of  the  great  battles  of  the  war 
I  will  not  attempt  to  describe,  leaving  that 
duty  to  the  participants,  and  refer  my  readers 
to  the  many  able  historians  who  have  depict 
ed  them,  and  to  official  reports  now  being 
published  by  the  Government. 

Where  Mr.  Davis  was  present,  I  will  re 
cord  his  connection  therewith.  He  thus 
wrote  of  this  battle  : 

"After  the  delivery  of  the  message  to  Con 
gress,  on  Saturday,  July  2oth,  I  intended  to 
leave  in  the  afternoon  for  Manassas,  but  was 
detained  until  the  next  morning,  when  I  left 
by  rail,  accompanied  by  my  aide-de-camp, 
Colonel  J.  R.  Davis,  to  confer  with  the  gen 
erals  on  the  field.  As  we  approached  Man- 


ENGAGEMENT  AT  BULL   RUN.  95 

assas  Railroad  junction,  a  cloud  of  dust  was 
visible  a  short  distance  to  the  west  of  the 
railroad.  It  resembled  one  raised  by  a  body 
of  marching  troops,  and  recalled  to  my  re 
membrance  the  design  of  General  Beaure- 
gard  to  make  the  Rappahannock  his  second 
line  of  defence.  It  was,  however,  subse 
quently  learned  that  the  dust  was  raised  by  a 
number  of  wagons  which  had  been  sent  to 
the  rear  for  greater  security  against  the  con 
tingencies  of  the  battle.  The  sound  of  the 
firing  had  now  become  very  distinct,  so  much 
so  as  to  leave  no  doubt  that  a  general  en 
gagement  had  commenced.  Though  that 
event  had  been  anticipated  as  being  near  at 
hand  after  the  action  of  the  i8th,  it  was  both 
hoped  and  desired  that  it  would  not  occur 
quite  so  soon,  the  more  as  it  was  not  known 
whether  the  troops  from  the  valley  had  yet 
arrived. 

"  On  reaching  the  railroad  junction,  I  found 
a  large  number  of  men,  bearing  the  usual  evi 
dence  of  those  who  leave  the  field  of  battle 
under  a  panic.  They  crowded  around  the 
train  with  fearful  stories  of  a  defeat  of  our 
army.  The  railroad  conductor  announced  his 
decision  that  the  railroad  train  should  pro 
ceed  no  farther.  Looking  among  those  who 
were  about  us  for  one  whose  demeanor  gave 
reason  to  expect  from  him  a  collected  answer, 


96  JEFFERSON  DAVIS. 

I  selected  one  whose  gray  beard  and  calm 
face  gave  best  assurance.  He,  however, 
could  furnish  no  encouragement.  Our  line, 
he  said,  was  broken,  all  was  confusion,  the 
army  routed,  and  the  battle  lost.  I  asked  for 
Generals  Johnston  and  Beauregard  ;  he  said 
they  were  on  the  field  when  he  left  it.  I  re 
turned  to  the  conductor  and  told  him  that  I 
must  go  on  ;  that  the  railroad  was  the  only 
means  by  which  I  could  proceed,  and  that, 
until  I  reached  the  headquarters,  I  could  not 
get  a  horse  to  ride  to  the  field  where  the  bat 
tle  was  raging.  He  finally  consented  to  de 
tach  the  locomotive  from  the  train,  and,  for  my 
accommodation,  to  run  it  as  far  as  the  army 
headquarters.  In  this  manner  Colonel  Da 
vis,  aide-de-camp,  and  myself  proceeded. 

"  At  the  headquarters  we  found  the  Quarter 
master-General,  W.  L.  Caball,  and  the  Adju 
tant-General,  Jordan,  of  General  Beauregard's 
staff,  who  courteously  agreed  to  furnish  us 
horses,  and  also  to  show  us  the  route. 
While  the  horses  were  being  prepared,  Col 
onel  Jordan  took  occasion  to  advise  my  aide- 
de-camp,  Colonel  Davis,  of  the  hazard  of  go 
ing  to  the  field,  and  the  impropriety  of  such 
exposure  on  my  part.  The  horses  were  after 
a  time  reported  ready,  and  we  started  to  the 
field.  The  stragglers  soon  became  numerous, 
and  warnings  as  to  the  fate  which  awaited  us 


ENGAGEMENT  AT  BULL  RUN.  97 

if  we  advanced  were  not  only  frequent,  but 
evidently  sincere. 

"  There  were,  however,  many  who  turned 
back,  and  the  wounded  generally  cheered 
upon  meeting  us.  I  well  remember  one,  a 
mere  stripling,  who,  supported  on  the  shoul 
ders  of  a  man,  who  was  bearing  him  to  the 
rear,  took  off  his  cap  and  waved  it  with  a 
cheer,  that  showed  within  that  slender  form 
beat  the  heart  of  a  hero — breathed  a  spirit 
that  would  dare  the  labors  of  Hercules. 

"  As  we  advanced,  the  storm  of  the  battle 
was  rolling  westward,  and  its  fury  became 
faint.  When  I  met  General  Johnston,  who 
was  upon  a  hill  which  commanded  a  general 
view  of  the  field  of  the  afternoon's  operations, 
and  inquired  of  him  as  to  the  state  of  affairs, 
he  replied  that  we  had  won  the  battle.  I  left 
him  there  and  rode  still  farther  to  the  west. 
Several  of  the  volunteers  on  General  Beaure- 
gard's  staff  joined  me,  and  a  command  of 
cavalry,  the  gallant  leader  of  which,  Captain 
John  F.  Lay,  insisted  that  I  was  too  near  the 
enemy  to  be  without  an  escort.  We,  how 
ever,  only  saw  one  column  near  to  us  that 
created  a  doubt  as  to  which  side  it  belonged ; 
and,  as  we  were  riding  toward  it,  it  was  sug 
gested  that  we  should  halt  until  it  could  be 
examined  with  a  field-glass.  Colonel  Ches- 
nut  dismounted  so  as  the  better  to  use  his 
VOL.  II.— 7 


98  JEFFERSON  DA  VIS. 

glass,  and  at  that  moment  the  column  formed 
into  line,  by  which  the  wind  struck  the  flag  so 
as  to  extend  it,  and  it  was  plainly  revealed  to 
be  that  of  the  United  States. 

"  Our  cavalry,  though  there  was  present 
but  the  squadron  previously  mentioned,  and 
specified  in  a  statement  of  the  commander 
from  which  I  will  make  some  extracts,  dashed 
boldly  forward  to  charge.  The  demonstra 
tion  was  followed  by  the  immediate  retreat  of 
what  was,  I  believe,  the  last,  thereabout,  of 
the  enemy's  forces  maintaining  their  organiza 
tion,  and  showing  a  disposition  to  dispute  the 
possession  of  the  field  of  battle.  In  riding 
over  the  ground,  it  seemed  quite  possible  to 
mark  the  line  of  a  fugitive's  flight.  Here  was 
a  musket,  there  a  cartridge-box,  there  a 
blanket  or  overcoat,  a  haversack,  etc.,  as  if 
the  runner  had  stripped  himself,  as  he  went, 
of  all  impediments  to  speed. 

"  As  we  approached  toward  the  left  of  our 
line,  the  signs  of  an  utter  rout  of  the  enemy 
were  unmistakable,  and  justified  the  conclu 
sion  that  the  watchword  of  '  On  to  Rich 
mond  '  had  been  changed  to  '  Off  for  Wash 
ington.' 

"  On  the  extreme  left  of  our  field  of  opera 
tions,  I  found  the  troops  whose  opportune 
arrival  had  averted  the  impending  disaster, 
and  so  materially  contributed  to  our  victory. 


ENGAGEMENT  AT  BULL   RUN,  99 

Some  of  them  had,  after  arriving  at  the 
Manassas  railroad  junction,  hastened  to  our 
left ;  their  brigadier-general,  E.  K.  Smith, 
was  wounded  soon  after  going  into  action, 
and  the  command  of  the  brigade  devolved 
upon  Elzey,  by  whom  it  was  gallantly  and 
skilfully  led  to  the  close  of  the  battle  ;  others, 
under  the  command  of  General  (then  Colonel) 
Early,  made  a  rapid  march,  under  the  press 
ing  necessity,  from  the  extreme  right  of  our 
line  to  and  beyond  our  left,  so  as  to  attack 
the  enemy  in  flank,  thus  inflicting  on  him  the 
discomfiture  his  oblique  movement  was  de 
signed  to  inflict  upon  us.  All  these  troops 
and  the  others  near  to  them  had  hastened 
into  action  without  supplies  or  camp-equip 
age  ;  weary,  hungry,  and  without  shelter, 
night  closed  around  them  where  they  stood, 
the  blood-stained  victors  on  a  hard-fought 
field.  ' 

"  It  was  reported  to  me  that  some  of  the 
troops  had  been  so  long  without  food  as  to. 
be  suffering  severe  hunger,  and  that  no  sup 
plies  could  be  got  where  they  were.  I  made 
several  addresses  to  them,  all  to  the  effect 
that  their  position  was  that  best  adapted  to  a 
pursuit  of  the  enemy,  and  that  they  should 
therefore  remain  there  ;  adding  that  I  would 
go  to  the  headquarters  and  direct  that  sup 
plies  should  be  sent  to  them  promptly. 


ioo  JEFFERSON  DAVIS. 

"  General  (then  Colonel)  Early,  command 
ing  a  brigade,  informed  me  of  some  wounded 
who  required  attention ;  one,  Colonel  Gard 
ner,  was,  he  said,  at  a  house  not  far  from 
where  we  were.  I  rode  to  see  him,  found  him 
in  severe  pain,  and,  from  the  twitching  visible 
and  frequent,  seemed  to  be  threatened  with 
tetanus.  A  man  sat  beside  him  whose  uni 
form  was  that  of  the  enemy ;  but  he  was  gen 
tle,  and  appeared  to  be  solicitously  atten 
tive.  He  said  that  he  had  no  morphine,  and 
did  not  know  where  to  get  any.  I  found  in 
a  short  time  a  surgeon  who  went  with  me  to 
Colonel  Gardner,  having  the  articles  necessary 
in  the  case.  Before  leaving  Colonel  Gardner, 
he  told  me  that  the  man  who  was  attending 
to  him  might,  without  hindrance,  have  re 
treated  with  his  comrades,  but  had  kindly  re 
mained  with  him,  and  he  therefore  asked  my 
protection  for  the  man.  I  took  the  name  and 
the  State  of  the  supposed  Good  Samaritan, 
and  at  army  headquarters  directed  that  he 
should  not  be  treated  as  a  prisoner.  The  se 
quel  will  be  told  hereafter. 

"  It  was  late,  and  we  rode  back  in  the 
night,  say  seven  miles,  to  the  army  head 
quarters.  I  had  not  seen  General  Beaure- 
gard  on  the  field,  and  did  not  find  him  at 
his  quarters  when  we  returned  ;  the  promise 
made  to  the  troops  was  therefore  communi- 


ENGAGEMENT  AT  BULL  RUN.  101 

cated  to  a  staff-officer,  who  said  he  would 
have  the  supplies  sent.  At  a  later  hour,  when 
I  met  General  Beauregard  and  informed  him 
of  what  had  occurred,  he  stated  that,  because 
of  a  false  alarm  which  had  reached  him,  he 
had  ordered  the  troops  referred  to  from  the 
left  to  the  right  of  our  line,  so  as  to  be  in  po 
sition  to  repel  the  reported  movement  of  the 
enemy  against  that  flank.  That  such  an 
alarm  should  have  been  credited,  and  a  night 
march  ordered  on  account  of  it,  shows  how 
little  the  completeness  of  the  victory  was 
realized." 

The  army  under  McDowell  numbered, 
present  for  duty,  34,127. 

The  Confederate  force  present  at  the  bat 
tle  and  engaged,  was  13,000. 

When  the  first  telegram  came  to  Richmond 
announcing  the  victory,  the  President  said : 
"  Several  cannon  were  captured."  A  less 
reliable  report  said  two,  but  I  felt  sure,  with 
his  habitually  cautious  habit  of  under-state- 
ment,  he  would  have  said  two,  if  there  were 
not  more,  and  so  it  proved  to  be.  He  was 
the  only  person  I  have  ever  known,  who,  in 
moments  of  triumph,  or  while  moved  by  per 
sonal  distaste,  or  violent  anger,  habitually  un 
derstated  what  was  achieved,  or  the  provo 
cation  offered. 


CHAPTER    XL 

CONFERENCES  AFTER   THE    BATTLE   OF   MANASSAS. 

MR.  DAVIS  thus  continued  the  narrative : 
"  At  a  late  hour  of  the  night,  I  had  a  con 
ference  with  Generals  Johnston  and  Beaure- 
gard ;  the  Adjutant  -  General  of  the  latter, 
Colonel  Jordan,  was  present,  and  sat  opposite 
to  me  at  the  table. 

"  When,  after  some  preliminary  conversa 
tion,  I  asked  whether  any  troops  had  been 
sent  in  pursuit  of  the  enemy,  I  was  answered 
in  the  negative.  Upon  further  inquiry  as  to 
what  troops  were  in  the  best  position  for  pur 
suit,  and  had  been  least  fatigued  during  the 
day,  General  Bonham's  brigade  was  men 
tioned.  I  then  suggested  that  he  should  be 
ordered  in  pursuit ;  a  pause  ensued,  until 
Colonel  Jordan  asked  me  if  I  would  dictate 
the  order.  I  at  once  dictated  an  order  for 
immediate  pursuit.  Some  conversation  fol 
lowed,  the  result  of  which  was  a  modification 
of  the  order  by  myself,  so  that,  instead  of  im 
mediate  pursuit,  it  should  be  commenced  at 
early  dawn.  Colonel  Jordan  spoke  across 
the  table  to  me,  saying,  '  If  you  will  send  the 


AFTER    THE  BATTLE   OF  MANASSAS.      103 

order  as  you  first  dictated  it,  the  enemy  won't 
stop  till  he  gets  into  the  Potomac/  I  believe 
I  remember  the  words  very  nearly,  and  am 
quite  sure  that  I  do  remember  them  substan 
tially.  On  March  25,  1878,  I  wrote  to  Gen 
eral  Beauregard  as  follows  : 

"  'DEAR  SIR  :  Permit  me  to  ask  you  to  re 
call  the  conference  held  between  General 
Johnston,  yourself,  and  myself,  on  the  night 
after  the  close  of  the  battle  of  Manassas  ;  and 
to  give  me,  if  you  can,  a  copy  of  the  order 
which  I  dictated,  and  which  your  Adjutant- 
General,  T.  J.  Jordan,  wrote  at  my  dictation, 
directing  Brigadier-General  Bonham  to  fol 
low  the  retreating  enemy.  If  you  cannot  fur 
nish  a  copy  of  the  order,  please  give  me  your 
recollection  of  its  substance. 

"  '  Yours  respectfully, 

" '  JEFFERSON  DAVIS/ 

"  To  this  letter  General  Beauregard  cour 
teously  replied  that  his  order-book  was  in 
New  York,  in  the  hands  of  a  friend,  to  whom 
he  would  write  for  a  copy  of  the  order  de 
sired  if  it  be  in  said  book,  and  that  he  would 
also  write  to  his  adjutant,  General  Jordan, 
for  his  recollection  of  the  order,  if  it  had  not 
been  inscribed  in  the  order-book. 

"  On  April  29th,  General  Beauregard  for- 


104  JEFFERSON  DAVIS. 

warded  to  me  the  answer  to  his  inquiries  in 
my  behalf,  as  follows  : 

"'NEW  YORK,  63  BROADWAY,  April  18,  1878. 

"  '  MY  DEAR  GENERAL  :  In  answer  to  your 
note,  I  hasten  to  say  that,  properly,  Mr.  Da 
vis  is  not  to  be  held  accountable  for  our  failure 
to  pursue  McDowell  from  the  field  of  Manas- 
sas  on  the  night  of  July  21,  1861. 

"  '  As  to  the  order,  to  which  I  presume  Mr. 
Davis  refers  in  his  note  to  you,  I  recollect  the 
incident  very  distinctly. 

"  '  The  night  of  the  battle,  as  I  was  about 
to  ascend  to  your  quarters  over  my  office, 
Captain  E.  P.  Alexander,  of  your  staff,  in 
formed  me  that  Captain ,  attached  to  Gen 
eral  Johnston's  army  of  the  Shenandoah,  re 
ported  that  he  had  been  as  far  forward  as 
Centreville,  where  he  had  seen  the  Federal 
army  completely  routed,  and  in  fuir  flight 
toward  Washington. 

"  '  This  statement  I  at  once  repeated  to  Mr. 
Davis,  General  Johnston,  and  yourself,  whom 
I  found  seated  around  your  table — Mr.  Davis 
at  the  moment  writing  a  despatch  to  General 
Cooper. 

"  '  As  soon  as  I  made  my  report,  Mr.  Davis, 
with  much  animation,  asserted  the  necessity 
for  an  urgent  pursuit  that  night  by  Bonham, 
who,  with  his  own  brigade  and  that  of  Long- 


AFTER    TtiE  BATTLE   OF  MANASSAS.      io$ 

street,  was  in  close  proximity  to  Centreville 
at  the  moment.  So  I  took  my  seat  at  the 
same  table  with  you,  and  wrote  the  order  for 
pursuit,  substantially  at  the  dictation  of  Mr. 
Davis.  But  while  writing,  either  I  hap 
pened  to  remember,  or  Captain  Alexander 
himself — as  I  am  inclined  to  believe — called 
me  aside  to  remind  me,  that  his  informant  was 
known  among  us  of  the  old  army  as  — 
because  of  eccentricities,  and  in  contradistinc 
tion  with  others  of  the  same  name.  When  I 
repeated  this  reminder,  Mr.  Davis  recalled 
the  sobriquet,  as  he  had  a  precise  personal 
knowledge  of  the  officers  of  the  old  army. 
He  laughed  heartily,  as  did  all  present. 

"  '  The  question  of  throwing  General  Bon- 
ham  forward  that  night,  upon  the  unverified 
report  of  Captain ,  was  now  briefly  dis 
cussed,  with  a  unanimous  decision  against  it; 
therefore,  the  order  was  not  despatched. 

"  '  It  is  proper  to  add  in  this  connection 
that,  so  far  as  I  am  aware — and  I  had  the  op 
portunity  of  knowing  what  occurred — this 
was  the  only  instance  during  Mr.  Davis's  stay 
at  Manassas  in  which  he  exercised  any  voice 
as  to  the  movement  of  the  troops.  Profound 
ly  pleased  by  the  junction  of  the  two  Confed 
erate  armies  upon  the  very  field  of  battle,  his 
bearing  toward  the  generals  who  commanded 
them  was  eminently  proper,  as  I  have  testi- 


io6  JEFFERSON  DAVIS. 

fied  on  a  former  occasion ;  and,  I  repeat,  he 
certainly  expressed  or  manifested  no  opposi 
tion  to  a  forward  movement,  nor  did  he  dis 
play  the  least  disposition  to  interfere  by 
opinion  or  authority  touching  what  the  Con 
federate  forces  should  or  should  not  do. 

"  *  You  having,  at  the  close  of  the  day,  sur 
rendered  the  command,  which  had  been  left 
in  your  hands,  over  both  Confederate  armies 
during  the  engagement,  General  Johnston 
was  that  night  in  chief  command.  He  was 
decidedly  averse  to  an  immediate  offensive, 
and  emphatically  discountenanced  it  as  im 
practicable. 

"  '  Very  truly  your  friend, 

"  '  THOMAS   JORDAN. 
"'To  GENERAL  P.  G.  T.  BEAUREGARD, 
New  Orleans,  La/  " 

"  General  Beauregard,  in  his  letter  forward 
ing  the  above,  wrote  :  '  The  account  given 
herewith  by  General  Jordan  of  what  occurred 
there  respecting  further  pursuit  that  night, 
agrees  with  my  own  recollection/ 

"  It  was  a  matter  of  importance,  as  I  re 
garded  it,  to  follow  closely  on  the  retreating 
enemy,  but  it  was  of  no  consequence  then  or 
now  as  to  who  issued  the  order  for  pursuit, 
and,  unless  requested,  I  should  not  have  dic 
tated  one,  preferring  that  the  generals  to 


AFTER    THE  BATTLE   OF  MAN  ASS  AS.      107 

whom  the  operations  were  confided  would  is 
sue  all  orders  to  the  troops.  I  supposed  the 
order,  as  modified  by  myself,  had  been  sent. 
I  have  found,  however,  since  the  close  of  the 
war,  that  it  was  not,  but  that  an  order  to  the 
same  effect  was  sent  on  the  night  of  July  2ist, 
for  a  copy  of  which  I  am  indebted  to  the 
kindness  of  that  chivalrous  gentleman,  soldier, 
and  patriot,  General  Bonham.  It  is  as  fol 
lows  : 

* '  *  HEADQUARTERS  OF  THE  ARMY  OF  THE  POTOMAC, 
MANASSAS,  July  21,  1861. 

"  '  (Special  order,  No.  140.) 

"  '  I.  General  Bonham  will  send,  as  early  as 
practicable  in  the  morning,  a  command  of  two 
of  his  regiments  of  infantry,  a  strong  force  of 
cavalry,  and  one  field  battery,  to  scour  the 
country  and  roads  to  his  front,  toward  Cen- 
treville.  He  will  carry  with  him  abundant 
means  of  transportation  for  the  collection  of 
our  wounded,  all  the  arms,  ammunition,  and 
abandoned  hospital  stores,  subsistence,  and 
baggage,  which  will  be  sent  immediately  to 
these  headquarters. 

"  '  General  Bonham  will  advance  with  cau 
tion,  throwing  out  an  advanced  guard  and 
skirmishers  on  his  right  and  left,  and  the  ut 
most  caution  must  be  taken  to  prevent  firing 
into  our  own  men. 


io8  JEFFERSON  DAVIS. 

"  '  Should  it  appear,  while  this  command  is 
occupied  as  directed,  that  it  is  insufficient  for 
the  purposes  indicated,  General  Bonham  will 
call  on  the  nearest  brigade  commander  for 
support. 

"  '  II.  Colonel  P.  St.  George  Cooke,  com 
manding,  will  despatch  at  the  same  time,  for 
similar  purposes,  a  command  of  the  same  size 
and  proportions  of  infantry,  artillery,  and  cav 
alry,  on  the  road  via  Stone  Bridge ;  and  an 
other  command  of  two  companies  of  infantry 
and  one  of  cavalry  on  the  road  by  which  the 
enemy  retreated,  toward  and  via  Sudley's 
Mills. 

"  '  By  command  of  Brigadier-General  Beau- 
regard. 

" '  THOMAS  JORDAN, 
"  *  A.  A.  Adjutant- General! 
"  '  To  BRIGADIER  BONHAM.'  ' 

"  Impressed  with  the  belief  that  the  enemy 
was  very  superior  to  us,  both  in  numbers  and 
appointments,  I  had  felt  apprehension  that, 
unless  pressed,  he  would  recover  from  the 
panic  under  which  he  fled  from  the  field, 
rally  on  his  reserves,  and  renew  the  contest. 
Therefore  it  was  that  I  immediately  felt  the 
necessity  for  a  pursuit  of  the  fugitives,  and 
insisted  that  the  troops  on  the  extreme  left 
should  retain  their  position  during  the  night 


AFTER    THE  BATTLE   OF  MAN  ASS  AS.      109 

of  the  2  ist,  as  has  been  heretofore  stated. 
In  conference  with  the  generals  that  night, 
this  subject  was  considered,  and  I  dictated  an 
order  for  a  movement  on  the  rear  of  the 
enemy  at  early  dawn,  which,  on  account  of 
the  late  hour  at  which  it  was  given,  differed 
very  little  from  one  for  an  immediate  move 
ment.  A  rainfall,  extraordinary  for  its  vio 
lence  and  duration,  occurred  on  the  morning 
of  the  succeeding  day,  so  that,  over  places 
where  during  the  battle  one  could  scarcely  get 
a  drink  of  water,  rolled  torrents  which,  in  the 
afternoon  of  the  22d,  it  was  difficult  to  cross. 

"  From  these  and  other  causes,  the  troops 
were  scattered  to  such  an  extent,  that  but  few 
commands  could  have  been  assembled  for  im 
mediate  service.  It  was  well  for  us  that  the 
enemy,  instead  of  retiring  in  order  so  as  to  be 
rallied  and  again  brought  to  the  attack,  left 
hope  behind,  and  fled  in  dismay  to  seek  for 
safety  beyond  the  Potomac. 

"  Each  hour  of  the  day  following  the  bat 
tle  added  to  the  evidence  of  a  thorough  rout 
of  the  enemy.  Abandoned  wagons,  stores, 
guns,  caissons,  small-arms,  and  ammunition, 
proved  his  complete  demoralization.  As  far 
as  our  cavalry  went,  no  hostile  force  was  met, 
and  all  the  indications  favored  the  conclusion 
that  the  purpose  of  invasion  had  for  the  time 
been  abandoned. 


1 10  JEFFERSON  DA  VIS. 

"  The  victory,  though  decisive  and  impor 
tant,  both  in  its  moral  and  physical  effect,  had 
been  dearly  bought  by  the  sacrifice  of  the  lives 
of  many  of  our  bravest  and  best,  who  at  the  first 
call  of  their  country  had  rushed  to  its  defence. 

"  When  riding  to  the  front,  I  met  an  ambu 
lance  bearing  General  Barnard  Bee  from  the 
field,  where  he  had  been  mortally  wounded, 
after  his  patriotism  had  been  illustrated  by 
conspicuous  exhibitions  of  skill,  daring,  and 
fortitude.  Soon  after,  I  learned  that  my 
friend,  Colonel  Bartow,  had  heroically  sealed 
with  his  life-blood  his  faith  in  the  sanctity  of 
our  cause.  He  had  been  the  chairman  of  the 
Committee  on  Military  Affairs  in  the  Provi 
sional  Congress,  and  after  the  laws  were  en 
acted  to  provide  for  the  public  defence,  he 
went  to  the  field  to  maintain  them.  It  is  to 
such  virtuous  and  devoted  citizens  that  a 
country  is  indebted  for  its  prosperity  and 
honor,  as  well  in  peace  as  in  war. 

"  Reference  has  been  made  to  the  disper 
sion  of  our  troops  after  the  battle,  and  in  this 
connection  the  following  facts  are  mentioned  : 
In  the  afternoon  of  the  22d,  with  a  guide  sup 
posed  to  be  cognizant  of  the  positions  at 
which  the  different  commands  would  be 
found,  I  went  to  visit  the  wounded,  and 
among  them  a  youth  of  my  family,  who,  it 
was  reported  to  me,  was  rapidly  sinking. 


AFTER    THE  BATTLE   OF  MAN  ASS  AS.      in 

After  driving  many  miles,  and  witnessing 
very  painful  scenes,  but  seldom  finding  the 
troops  in  the  position  where  my  guide  sup 
posed  them  to  be,  and  always  disappointed 
in  discovering  him  I  particularly  sought,  I 
was,  at  the  approach  of  night,  about  to  aban 
don  the  search,  when,  accidentally  meeting 
an  officer  of  the  command  to  which  the  youth 
belonged,  I  was  directed  to  the  temporary 
hospital  to  which  the  wounded  of  that  com 
mand  had  been  removed.  It  was  too  late  ; 
the  soul  of  the  young  soldier  had  just  left  the 
body ;  the  corpse  lay  before  me.*  Around 
him  were  many  gentle  boys,  suffering  in  dif 
ferent  degrees  from  the  wounds  they  had  re 
ceived.  One  bright,  refined-looking  youth 
from  South  Carolina,  severely,  if  not  fatally, 
wounded,  responded  to  my  expression  of  sym 
pathy  by  the  heroic  declaration  that  it  was 
'  sweet  to  die  for  such  a  cause/  t 

"  Many  kindred  spirits  ascended  to  the 
Father  from  that  field  of  their  glory.  The 
roll  need  not  be  recorded  here  ;  it  has  a  more 
enduring  depository  than  the  pen  can  make 
— the  traditions  of  a  grateful  people. 

*  While  in  the  agonies  of  pain,  and  parched  by  thirst,  some  of 
the  ambulance  corps  came  to  take  private  Edward  Anderson  to  the 
hospital,  but  he  pointed  to  a  wounded  man  near  him,  saying, 
"Take  him,  he  may  recover,  I  cannot." 

f  These  two  incidents  were  never  mentioned  by  my  hu§ba.pd.  with 
out  glistening  eyes  and  faltering  voice. 


1 1 2  JEFFERSON  DA  VIS. 

"  On  the  night  of  the  22d,  I  held  a  second 
conference  with  Generals  Johnston  and  Beau- 
regard.  All  the  revelations  of  the  day  were 
of  the  most  satisfactory  character,  as  to  the 
completeness  of  our  victory.  The  large 
amount  gained  of  fine  artillery,  small-arms, 
and  ammunition,  all  of  which  were  much 
needed  by  us,  was  not  the  least  gratifying 
consequence  of  our  success.  The  generals, 
like  myself,  were  all  content  with  what  had 
been  done. 

"  I  propounded  to  them  the  inquiry  as  to 
what  it  was  practicable  to  do.  They  con 
curred  as  to  their  inability  to  cross  the  Po 
tomac,  and  to  the  further  inquiry  as  to  an  ad 
vance  to  the  south  side  of  the  Potomac, 
General  Beauregard  promptly  stated  that 
there  were  strong  fortifications  there,  occu 
pied  by  garrisons  which  had  not  been  in  the 
battle,  and  were  therefore  not  affected  by  the 
panic  which  had  seized  the  defeated  army. 
He  described  these  fortifications  as  having 
wide,  deep  ditches,  with  palisades  which 
would  prevent  the  escalade  of  the  works. 
Turning  to  General  Johnston,  he  said, 
'  They  have  spared  no  expense.'  It  was 
further  stated  in  explanation  that  we  had  no 
sappers  and  miners,  nor  even  the  tools  re 
quisite  to  make  regular  approaches.  If  we 
had  possessed  both,  the  time  required  for 


AFTER    THE  BATTLE   OF  MAN  ASS  AS.      113 

such  operations  would  have  more  than  suf 
ficed  for  General  Patterson's  army  and  other 
forces  to  have  been  brought  to  that  locality, 
in  such  numbers  as  must  have  rendered  the 
attempt,  with  our  present  means,  futile. 

"  This  view  of  the  matter  rests  on  the  sup 
position  that  the  fortifications  and  garrisons 
described  did  actually  exist,  of  which  there 
seemed  then  to  be  no  doubt.  If  the  reports 
which  have  since  reached  us  be  true,  that 
there  was  at  that  time  neither  fortifications 
nor  troops  stationed  on  the  south  bank  of  the 
Potomac  ;  that  all  the  enemy's  forces  fled  to 
the  north  side  of  the  river,  and  even  beyond  ; 
that  the  panic  of  the  routed  army  infected  the 
whole  population  bf  Washington  City  ;  and 
that  no  preparation  was  made,  or  even  con 
templated,  for  the  destruction  of  the  bridge 
across  the  Potomac — then  it  may  have  been, 
as  many  have  asserted,  that  our  army,  fol 
lowing  close  upon  the  flying  enemy,  could 
have  entered  and  taken  possession  of  the 
United  States  capital.  These  reports,  how 
ever,  present  a  condition  of  affairs  altogether 
at  variance  with  the  information  on  which  we 
had  to  act.  Thus  it  was,  and,  so  far  as  I 
knew,  for  the  reasons  above  stated,  that  an 
advance  to  the  south  bank  of  the  Potomac 
was  not  contemplated  as  the  immediate  se 
quence  of  the  victory  at  Manassas." 
VOL.  II.— 8 


CHAPTER  XII. 

REFLECTIONS  ON  THE  VICTORY. 

MR.  DAVIS  continued  :  "  The  victory  of 
Manassas  was  certainly  extraordinary,  not  only 
on  account  of  the  disparity  of  our  numbers 
and  the  inferiority  of  our  arms,  but  also  be 
cause  of  many  other  disadvantages  under 
which  we  labored.  We  had  no  disciplined 
troops,  and,  though  our  citizens  were  gener 
ally  skilled  in  the  use  of  small-arms,  which, 
with  their  high  pride  and  courage,  might  com 
pensate  for  the  want  of  training  while  in  posi 
tion,  these  inadequately  substituted  military 
instruction  when  manoeuvres  had  to  be  per 
formed  under  fire,  and  could  not  make  the 
old-fashioned  musket  equal  to  the  long-range, 
new-model  muskets  with  which  the  enemy 
was  supplied.  The  disparity  in  artillery  was 
still  greater,  both  in  the  number  and  kinds  of 
guns  ;  but,  thanks  to  the  skill  and  cool  cour 
age  of  the  Rev.  Captain  W.  N.  Pendleton,  his 
battery  of  light,  smooth-bore  guns,  manned 
principally  by  the  youths  whose  rector  he 
had  been,  proved  more  effective  in  battle  than 
the  long-range  rifle-guns  of  the  enemy.  The 


REFLECTIONS  ON  THE    VICTORY.          115 

character  of  the  ground  brought  the  forces 
into  close  contact,  and  the  ricochet  of  the 
round  balls  carried  havoc  into  the  columns  of 
the  enemy,  while  the  bolts  of  their  rifle-guns, 
if  they  missed  their  object,  penetrated  harm 
lessly  into  the  ground. 

"  The  field  was  very  extensive,  broken,  and 
wooded.  The  senior  general  had  so  recently 
arrived  that  he  had  no  opportunity  minutely 
to  learn  the  ground,  and  the  troops  he  brought 
were  both  unacquainted  with  the  field  and 
with  those  with  whom  they  had  to  co-operate. 
To  all  this  must  be  added  the  disturbing  fact 
that  the  plan  of  battle,  as  originally  designed, 
was  entirely  changed  by  the  movement  of  the 
enemy  on  our  extreme  left,  instead  of  right 
and  centre,  as  anticipated.  The  operations, 
therefore,  had  to  be  conducted  against  the 
plan  of  the  enemy,  instead  of  on  that  which 
our  generals  had  prepared  and  explained  to 
their  subordinate  commanders.  The  prompti 
tude  with  which  the  troops  moved,  and  the 
readiness  with  which  our  generals  modified 
their  preconceived  plans  to  meet  the  necessi 
ties  as  they  were  developed,  entitled  them  to 
the  commendation  so  liberally  bestowed  at 
the  time  by  their  countrymen  at  large. 

"  General  Johnston  had  been  previously 
promoted  to  the  highest  grade  in  our  army, 
and  I  deemed  it  but  a  fitting  reward  for  the 


u6  JEFFERSON  DAVIS. 

services  rendered  by  General  Beauregard 
that  he  should  be  promoted  to  the  same  grade, 
to  which  accordingly  I  promoted  him  at  once." 

"  I  have  related  how,  in  riding  over  the 
field  of  Manassas,  I  encountered  a  Federal 
soldier  of  whom  it  was  said  that,  although  he 
might  have  retreated  in  safety  with  the  Federal 
army,  he  had  remained  within  our  lines  to 
nurse  a  wounded  Confederate  officer,  and  that 
I  ordered  that  in  consideration  of  his  human 
ity  he  should  not  be  treated  as  a  prisoner  of 
war.  After  the  conference  of  the  22d,  and 
because  of  it,  I  decided  to  return  to  Richmond 
and  employ  all  the  power  of  my  office  to  in 
crease  the  strength  of  the  army,  so  as  the 
better  to  enable  it  to  meet  the  public  need, 
whether  in  offensive  •  defensive  or  purely 
defensive  operations,  as  opportunity  should 
offer  for  the  one,  or  the  renewal  of  invasion 
require  for  the  other. 

"A  short  time  subsequent  to  my  return,  a 
message  was  brought  to  me,  from  the  prison, 
to  the  effect  that  a  non-commissioned  officer, 
captured  at  Manassas,  claimed  to  have  a 
promise  of  protection  from  me.  The  name 
given  was  Hulbert,  of  Connecticut.  I  had 
forgotten  the  name  he  gave  when  I  saw  him ; 
but,  believing  that  I  would  recognize  the 
person  who  had  attended  to  Colonel  Gardner, 
and  to  whom  only  such  a  promise  had  been 


REFLECTIONS  ON  THE    VICTORY.          117 

given,  the  officer  in  charge  was  directed  to 
send  him  to  me.  When  he  came  I  had  no 
doubt  of  his  identity,  and  explained  to  him 
that  I  had  directed  that  he  should  not  be 
treated  as  a  prisoner,  but  that,  in  the  multi 
tude  of  those  wearing  the  same  uniform  as 
his,  some  neglect  or  mistake  had  arisen,  for 
which  I  was  very  sorry,  and  that  he  should 
be  immediately  released  and  sent  down  the 
river  to  the  neighborhood  of  Fortress  Monroe, 
where  he  would  be  among  his  own  people. 
He  then  told  me  that  he  had  a  sister  residing 
a  few  miles  in  the  country,  whom  he  would  be 
very  glad  to  visit.  Permission  was  given  him 
to  do  so,  and  a  time  fixed  at  which  he  was  to 
report  for  transportation  ;  and  so  he  left,  with 
manifestations  of  thankfulness  for  the  kind 
ness  with  which  he  had  been  treated.  In  due 
time  a  newspaper  was  received,  containing 
an  account  of  his  escape,  and  how  he  lingered 
about  the  suburbs  of  Richmond  and  made 
drawings  of  the  surrounding  fortifications. 
The  treachery  was  as  great  as  if  his  drawings 
had  been  valuable,  which  they  could  not  have 
been,  as  we  had  only  then  commenced  the 
detached  works  which  were  designed  as  a 
system  of  defences  for  Richmond." 

The  following  letter,  written  by  a  Virginia 
soldier,  illustrates  the  kindness  of  manner 
which  characterized  Mr.  Davis  toward  all 


i  r$  JEFFERSON  DA  vis. 

subordinates.  He  was  approachable  by  all, 
even  to  the  lowest  in  rank.  The  latter  is 
given  in  illustration. 

"  On  Monday,  July  22,  1861,  the  day  after 
the  first  battle  of  Manassas,  it  was  raining 
very  hard ;  President  Davis,  Beauregard, 
and  Johnston  were  holding  a  council  of 
war  in  a  tent.  A  young  Mr.  Fauntleroy,  of 
my  company,  asked  me  to  go  with  him  on 
a  little  matter  of  business,  not  telling  me 
what  it  was.  He  took  me  in  the  direction  of 
the  Moss  mansion,  and  upon  reaching  the 
arched  gateway  we  were  confronted  by  a  sen 
tinel  who  promptly  halted  us.  Fauntleroy  re 
monstrated,  telling  the  sentinel  that  he  must 
see  President  Davis ;  the  sentinel  refused,  as 
President  Davis  was  holding  a  council  of  war. 
Directly  President  Davis  came  out  of  the 
tent,  Fauntleroy  and  myself  were  then  allowed 
to  pass.  We  reached  there  almost  simultane 
ously  with  the  President — he  was  half-way  up 
the  steps.  Fauntleroy  hailed  him,  with,  '  Is 
that  President  Davis  ?  '  and  he,  in  his  inimita 
bly  bland  way  replied  :  '  Yes,  sir/  and  added, 
'  walk  up,  gentlemen,  out  of  the  rain/  We 
declined  with  thanks,  and  Fauntleroy  then 
told  him  that  he  was  T.  K.  Fauntleroy,  of 
Clarke  County,  Virginia,  and  wanted  a  com 
mission  in  the  regular  Confederate  army. 
President  Davis  asked  him  if  he  was  any 


REFLECTIONS  ON  THE    VICTORY.          119 

relation  to  Colonel  Fauntleroy  of  the  United 
States  army  ;  he  replied  that  he  was  his  uncle. 

"  The  President  told  him  he  was  really  glad 
to  meet  him,  and  that  if  he  lived  to  go  back  to 
Richmond,  he  would  send  him  a  commission ; 
to  which  Fauntleroy  replied  :  'Can  I  rely  upon 
you,  Mr.  President?'  I  was  dumfounded,  but 
the  President  was  equal  to  the  occasion,  and  in 
a  manner  that  no  man  on  earth  could  imitate 
or  use,  quietly  and  gently  said,  '  You  can'  I 
can  never  forget  it. 

"A  month  afterward,  when  we  were  in 
camp  near  Fairfax  Court-House,  one  morning, 
a  courier  came  up  to  where  we  were,  bear 
ing  a  commission  to  T.  Kinloch  Fauntleroy, 
as  lieutenant  in  the  regular  Confederate 
army ;  and  I  need  not  add  that  he  was  the 
happiest  man  I  ever  saw.  .  .  . 

"  JOSEPH  H.  SHEPARD." 


CHAPTER   XIII. 

RESPONSIBILITY  FOR  THE  FAILURE  TO  PURSUE. 

I  CONTINUE  my  husband's  review  of  the 
causes  and  responsibility  for  the  failure  of  the 
Confederate  army  to  pursue  the  Federals 
after  the  victory  of  Manassas,  for  those  who 
loved  him  could  scarcely  give  the  just  and 
impersonal  account  that  he  has,  of  the  mis 
representations  which  fell  thick  as  hail  from 
his  detractors  upon  him. 

"  When  the  smoke  of  battle  had  lifted  from 
the  field  of  Manassas,  and  the  rejoicing  over 
the  victory  had  spread  over  the  land  and 
spent  its  exuberance,  some  who,  like  Job's 
war-horse  '  sniffed  the  battle  from  afar,'  but 
in  whom  the  likeness  there  ceased,  censori 
ously  asked  why  the  fruits  of  the  victory  had 
not  been  gathered  by  the  capture  of  Wash 
ington  City.  Then  some  indiscreet  friends  of 
the  generals  commanding  in  that  battle,  in 
stead  of  the  easier  task  of  justification  chose 
the  harder  one  of  exculpation  for  the  imputed 
failure.  Their  ill-advised  zeal,  combined,  per 
haps,  with  malice  against  me.  induced  the  al 
legation  that  the  President  had  prevented  the 


FAILURE  To  PURSUE.  121 

generals  from  making  an  immediate  and  vig 
orous  pursuit  of  the  routed  enemy. 

"  This,  as  the  other  stories  had  been,  was 
left  to  the  correction  which  time,  it  was  hoped, 
would  bring ;  the  sooner,  because  it  was  ex 
pected  to  be  refuted  by  the  reports  of  the 
commanding  generals  with  whom  I  had  con 
ferred  on  that  subject  immediately  after  the 
battle. 

"  After  considerable  time  had  elapsed  it 
was  reported  to  me  that  a  member  of  Con 
gress,  who  had  served  on  that  occasion  as  a 
volunteer  aid  to  General  Beauregard,  had 
stated  in  the  House  of  Representatives  that  I 
had  prevented  the  pursuit  of  the  enemy  after 
his  defeat  at  Manassas. 

"  This  gave  to  the  rumor  such  official  char 
acter  and  dignity  as  seemed  to  me  to  entitle  it 
to  notice  not  hitherto  given.  Wherefore  I 
addressed  to  General  Johnston  the  following 
inquiry,  which,  though  restricted  in  its  terms 
to  the  allegation,  was  of  such  tenor  as  left  it 
to  his  option  to  state  all  the  facts  connected 
with  the  slander,  if  he  should  choose  to  do 
me  that  justice,  or  should  see  the  public  inter 
est  involved  in  the  correction,  which,  as  stated 
in  my  letter  to  him,  was  that  which  gave  it,  in 
my  estimation,  its  claim  to  consideration  and 
had  caused  me  to  address  him  on  the  sub 
ject  : 


122  JEFFERSON  DAVIS. 

"  '  RICHMOND,  VA.,  November  3,  1861. 

"  '  GENERAL    J.  E.    JOHNSTON,  Commanding 
Department  of  the  Potomac. 

"  '  SIR  :  Reports  have  been  and  are  being 
widely  circulated  to  the  effect  that  I  prevented 
General  Beauregard  from  pursuing  the  ene 
my  after  the  battle  of  Manassas,  and  had  sub 
sequently  restrained  him  from  advancing  up 
on  Washington  City.  Though  such  state 
ments  may  have  been  made  merely  for  my 
injury,  and  in  that  view  might  be  postponed 
to  a  more  convenient  season,  they  have  ac 
quired  importance  from  the  fact  that  they 
have  served  to  create  distrust,  to  excite  dis 
appointment,  and  must  embarrass  the  admin 
istration  in  its  further  efforts  to  reinforce  the 
armies  of  the  Potomac,  and  generally  to  pro 
vide  for  the  public  defence.  For  these  public 
considerations  I  call  upon  you,  as  the  com 
manding  general,  and  as  a  party  to  all  the 
conferences  held  by  me  on  July  2ist  and  22d, 
to  say  whether  I  obstructed  the  pursuit  of  the 
enemy  after  the  victory  of  Manassas,  or  have 
ever  objected  to  an  advance  or  other  active 
operation  which  it  was  feasible  for  the  army 
to  undertake. 

"  '  Very  respectfully  yours,  etc., 

"  JEFFERSON  DAVIS/ 


FAILURE  TO  PURSUE.  123 

"  '  HEADQUARTERS,  CENTREVILLE, 
November  10,  1861. 

"  '  To  His  EXCELLENCY  THE  PRESIDENT. 

"  '  SIR  :  I  have  had  the  honor  to  receive 
your  letter  of  the  3d  instant,  in  which  you  call 
upon  me  "  as  the  commanding  general,  and  as 
a  party  to  all  the  conferences  held  by  you  on 
July  2  ist  and  22d,  to  say  whether  you  ob 
structed  the  pursuit  after  the  victory  of  Ma- 
nassas,  or  have  ever  objected  to  an  advance 
or  other  active  operation  which  it  was  feas 
ible  for  the  army  to  undertake  ?  " 

"  '  To  the  first  question  I  reply,  No  ;  the 
pursuit  was  "obstructed"  by  the  enemy's 
troops  at  Centreville,  as  I  have  stated  in  my 
official  report.  In  that  report  I  have  also 
said  why  no  advance  was  made  upon  the 
enemy's  capital  for  reasons  as  follows  : 

"  '  The  apparent  freshness  of  the  United 
States  troops  at  Centreville,  which  checked 
our  pursuit,  the  strong  forces  occupying  the 
works  near  Georgetown,  Arlington,  and  Alex 
andria  ;  the  certainty,  too,  that  General  Pat 
terson,  if  needed,  would  reach  Washington 
with  his  army  of  more  than  thirty  thousand 
sooner  than  we  could;  and  the  condition  and 
inadequate  means  of  the  army  in  ammunition, 
provisions,  and  transportation,  prevented  any 
serious  thought  of  advancing  upon  the  Capi 
tol. 


124  J EPPERSON  DAVIS. 

"  '  To  the  second  question  I  reply  that  it  has 
never  been  feasible  for  the  army  to  advance 
farther  than  it  has  done  —  to  the  line  of 
Fairfax  Court  -  House,  with  its  advanced 
posts  at  Upton's,  Munson's,  and  Mason's 
Hill.  After  a  conference  at  Fairfax  Court- 
House,  with  the  three  senior  general  officers, 
you  announced  it  to  be  impracticable  to  give 
this  army  the  strength  which  those  officers 
considered  necessary  to  enable  it  to  assume 
the  offensive.  Upon  which  I  drew  it  back 
to  its  present  position.  Most  respectfully, 
your  obedient  servant, 

"'J.  E.  JOHNSTON.'" 

"  This  answer  to  my  inquiry  was  conclusive 
as  to  the  charge  which  had  been  industrious 
ly  circulated,  that  I  had  prevented  the  imme 
diate  pursuit  of  the  enemy  and  had  obstructed 
active  operations  after  the  battle  of  Manassas, 
and  thus  had  caused  the  failure  to  reap  the 
proper  fruits  of  the  victory. 

"  No  specific  inquiry  was  made  by  me  as 
to  the  part  I  took  in  the  conferences  of  July 
2 ist  and  22d,  but  a  general  reference  was 
made  to  them.  The  entire  silence  of  General 
Johnston  in  regard  to  those  conferences  is 
noticeable  from  the  fact  that,  while  his  answer 
was  strictly  measured  by  the  terms  of  my  in 
quiry  as  to  pursuit,  he  added  a  statement 


FAILURE    TO  PURSUE.  125 

about  a  conference  at  Fairfax  Court- House, 
which  occurred  in  the  autumn,  say  October, 
and  could  have  had  no  relation  to  the  ques 
tion  of  pursuit  of  the  enemy  after  the  victory 
of  Manassas,  or  other  active  operations  there 
with  connected.  The  reasons  stated  in  my 
letter  for  making  an  inquiry,  naturally  pointed 
to  the  conferences  of  July  2ist  and  22d,  but 
surely  not  to  a  conference  held  months  sub 
sequent  to  the  battle,  and  on  a  question  quite 
different  from  that  of  hot  pursuit.  In  regard 
to  the  matter  of  this  subsequent  conference  I 
shall  have  more  to  say  hereafter. 

"  I  left  the  field  of  Manassas  proud  of  the 
heroism  of  our  troops  in  battle,  and  of  the 
conduct  of  the  officers  who  led  them.  Anx 
ious  to  recognize  the  claim  of  the  army  on 
the  gratitude  of  the  country,  it  was  my  pleas 
ing  duty  to  bear  testimony  to  their  merit  in 
every  available  form. 

"  With  all  the  information  possessed  at 
the  time  by  the  commanding  generals,  the 
propriety  of  maintaining  our  position  while 
seeking  objects  more  easily  obtained  than 
the  capture  of  the  United  States  capital, 
seemed  to  me  so  demonstrable  as  to  re 
quire  no  other  justification  than  the  state 
ments  to  which  I  have  referred,  in  connec 
tion  with  the  conference  of  July  22d.  It 
would  have  seemed  to  me  then,  as  it  does 


126  JEFFERSON  DAVIS. 

now,*  to  be  less  than  was  due  to  the  energy 
and  fortitude  of  our  troops,  to  plead  a  want 
of  transportation  and  supplies  for  a  march  of 
about  twenty  miles  through  a  country  which 
had  not  been  denuded  by  the  ravages  of  war. 
"  Under  these  impressions  and  with  such 
feelings,  I  wrote  to  General  Beauregard  as 
follows : 

"  'RICHMOND,  VA.,  August  4,  1861. 

"  '  GENERAL  BEAUREGARD,  Manassas,  Va. 

"  'My  DEAR  SIR:  I  think  you  are  unjust  to 
yourself  in  putting  your  failure  to  pursue  the 
enemy  to  Washington  to  the  account  of  short 
supplies  of  subsistence  and  transportation. 
Under  the  circumstances  of  our  army,  and  in 
the  absence  of  the  knowledge  since  acquired, 
if  indeed  the  statements  be  true,  it  would 
have  been  extremely  hazardous  to  have  done 
more  than  was  performed.  You  will  not  fail 
to  remember  that,  so  far  from  knowing  that 
the  enemy  was  routed,  a  large  part  of  our 
forces  were  moved  by  you,  in  the  night  of  the 
2 ist,  to  repel  a  supposed  attack  upon  our 
right,  and  that  the  next  day's  operations  did 
not  fully  reveal  what  has  since  been  reported 
of  the  enemy's  panic.  Enough  was  done  for 
glory,  and  the  measure  of  duty  was  full.  Let 
us  rather  show  the  untaught  that  their  desires 

*  This  was  written  after  deliberation  in  1887. 


FAILURE   TO  PURSUE.  127 

are  unreasonable,  than,  by  dwelling  on   the 
possibilities  recently  developed,  give  form  and 
substance  to    the    criticisms  always    easy  to 
those  who  judge  after  the  event. 
"  *  With  sincere  esteem,  I  am  your  friend, 
"  '  JEFFERSON  DAVIS.'  ' 

"  I  had  declared  myself  content  and  grati 
fied  with  the  conduct  of  the  troops  and  the 
officers,  and  supposed  the  generals,  in  recogni 
tion  of  my  efforts  to  aid  them  by  increasing 
their  forces  and  munitions,  as  well  as  by  my 
abstinence  from  all  interference  with  them 
upon  the  field,  would  have  had  neither 
cause  nor  motive  to  reflect  upon  me  in  their 
reports,  and  it  was  with  equal  surprise  and 
regret  that  in  this  I  found  myself  mistaken. 

"  General  Johnston,  in  his  report,  repre 
sented  an  order  to  him  to  make  a  junction 
with  General  Beauregard  as  a  movement  left 
to  his  discretion,  with  the  condition  that,  if 
made,  he  should  first  send  his  sick  and  bag 
gage  to  Culpepper  Court-House.  I  felt  con 
strained  to  put  upon  his  report,  when  it  was 
received,  the  following  endorsement : 

"  The  telegram  referred  to  by  General 
Johnston  in  this  report,  as  received  by  him  at 
about  one  o'clock  on  the  morning  of  July 
1 8th,  is  inaccurately  reported ;  the  following 
is  a  copy : 


128  JEFFERSON  DAVIS. 

"'RICHMOND,  July  17,   1861. 

" '  GENERAL  J.  E.  JOHNSTON,  Winchester,  Va. 
"  '  General  Beauregard  is  attacked.  To 
strike  the  enemy  a  decided  blow  a  junction  of 
all  your  effective  force  will  be  needed.  If 
practicable  make  the  movement,  sending  your 
sick  and  baggage  to  Culpepper  Court-House, 
either  by  railroad  or  by  Warrenton.  In  all 
the  arrangements  exercise  your  discretion. 

"  '  S.  COOPER, 
"  '  Adjutant  and  Inspector- General! 


"The  word  '  after'  is  not  found  in  the  de 
spatch  before  the  words  '  sending  your  sick,' 
as  is  stated  in  the  report ;  so  that  the  argu 
ment  based  on  it  requires  no  comment.  The 
order  to  move  '  if  practicable,'  had  reference 
to  General  Johnston's  letters  of  July  I2th  and 
1 5th,  representing  the  relative  strength  and 
positions  of  the  enemy  under  Patterson,  and 
of  his  own  forces,  to  be  such  as  to  make  it 
doubtful  whether  General  Johnston  had  the 
power  to  effect  the  movement. 

"  Upon  the  receipt  of  General  Beauregard's 
report  of  the  battle  of  Manassas,  I  found  that 
it  contained  matter  which  seemed  to  me  out 
of  place,  and  therefore  addressed  to  him  the 
following  letter : 


FAILURE    TO  PURSUE.  129 

"  'RICHMOND,  VA.,  October  30,  1861. 

"  '  GENERAL  BEAUREGARD,  Manassas,  Va. 

"  '  SIR  :  Yesterday  my  attention  was  called 
to  various  newspaper  publications,  purporting 
to  have  been  sent  from  Manassas,  and  to  be 
a  synopsis  of  your  report  of  the  battle  of  July 
2  ist,  last,  and  in  which  it  is  represented  that 
you  have  been  overruled  by  me  in  your  plan 
for  a  battle  with  the  enemy,  south  of  the  Po 
tomac,  for  the  capture  of  Baltimore  and 
Washington,  and  the  liberation  of  Maryland. 

"  '  I  inquired  for  your  long-expected  report, 
and  it  has  been  to-day  submitted  for  my  in 
spection.  It  appears,  by  official  endorsement, 
to  have  been  received  by  the  Adjutant-Gen 
eral  on  October  i8th,  though  it  is  dated  Au 
gust  26,  1861. 

"  *  With  much  surprise  I  found  that  the 
newspaper  statements  were  sustained  by  the 
text  of  your  report.  I  was  surprised,  be 
cause  if  we  did  differ  in  opinion  as  to  the 
measure  and  purposes  of  contemplated  cam 
paigns,  such  facts  could  have  no  appropriate 
place  in  the  report  of  a  battle;  further,  be 
cause  it  seemed  to  be  an  attempt  to  exalt 
yourself  at  my  expense  ;  and,  especially,  be 
cause  no  such  plan  as  that  described  was 
submitted  to  me.  It  is  true  that,  some  time 
before  it  was  ordered,  you  expressed  a  de 
sire  for  the  junction  of  General  Johnston's 
VOL.  ii.— Q 


1 3o  JEFFERSON  DAVIS. 

army  with  your  own.  The  movement  was 
postponed  until  the  operations  of  the  enemy 
rendered  it  necessary,  and  until  it  became 
thereby  practicable  to  make  it  with  safety  to 
the  Valley  of  Virginia.  Hence  I  believe  was 
secured  the  success  by  which  it  was  attended. 
" '  If  you  have  retained  a  copy  of  the  plan  of 
campaign  which  you  say  was  submitted  to  me 
through  Colonel  Chesnut,  allow  me  to  re 
quest  that  you  will  furnish  me  with  a  dupli 
cate  of  it. 

"  '  Very  respectfully  yours,  etc. 

" '  JEFFERSON  DAVIS/ 

"  As  General  Beauregard  did  not  think  it 
proper  to  omit  that  portion  of  his  report  to 
which  objection  was  made,  it  necessitated, 
when  the  entire  report  was  transmitted  to 
Congress,  the  placing  of  an  endorsement  upon 
it  reviewing  that  part  of  the  report  which  I 
considered  objectionable.  The  Congress  in 
its  discretion,  ordered  the  publication  of  the 
report,  except  that  part  to  which  the  endorse 
ment  referred,  thereby  judiciously  suppress 
ing  both  the  endorsement  and  the  portion  of 
the  report  to  which  it  related.  In  this  case 
and  every  other  official  report  ever  submitted 
to  me,  I  made  neither  alteration  nor  eras 
ure. 

"  That  portion  of  the  report  which  was  sup- 


FAILURE    TO  PURSUE.  131 

pressed  by  the  Congress  has,  since  the  war, 
found  its  way  into  the  press,  but  the  endorse 
ment  that  belongs  to  it  has  not  been  pub 
lished.  As  part  of  the  history  of  the  time,  I 
here  present  both  in  their  proper  connection  : 

"  '  GENERAL  S.  COOPER,  AdjiUant  and  In 
spector-General,  Richmond,  Va. 

"  '  Before  entering  upon  a  narration  of  the 
general  military  operations  in  the  presence  of 
the  enemy  on  July  2ist,  I  propose,  I  hope  not 
unreasonably,  first  to  recite  certain  events 
which  belong  to  the  strategy  of  the  campaign, 
and  consequently  form  an  essential  part  of  the 
history  of  the  battle. 

"  '  Having  become  satisfied  that  the  advance 
of  the  enemy  with  a  decidedly  superior  force, 
both  as  to  numbers  and  war  equipage,  to  at 
tack  or  to  turn  my  position  in  this  quarter,  was 
immediately  impending,  I  despatched  on  July 
1 3th  one  of  my  staff,  Colonel  James  Ches- 
nut,  of  South  Carolina,  to  submit,  for  the  con 
sideration  of  the  President,  a  plan  of  opera 
tions  substantially  as  follows  : 

"  '  I  proposed  that  General  Johnston  should 
unite,  as  soon  as  possible,  the  bulk  of  the 
army  of  the  Shenandoah  with  that  of  the  Po 
tomac,  then  under  my  command,  leaving  only 
sufficient  force  to  garrison  his  strong  works 
at  Winchester,  and  to  guard  the  five  defensive 


1 32  JEFFERSON  DAVIS. 

passes  of  the  Blue  Ridge,  and  thus  hold  Pat 
terson  in  check.  At  the  same  time  Brigadier- 
General  Holmes  was  to  march  hither  with  all 
his  command  not  essential  for  the  defence  of 
the  position  at  Acquia  Creek.  These  junctions 
having  been  effected  at  Manassas,  an  imme 
diate  impetuous  attack  of  our  combined  armies 
upon  General  McDowell  was  to  follow,  as 
soon  as  he  approached  my  advanced  position 
at  and  around  Fairfax  Court-House,  with  the 
inevitable  result,  as  I  submitted,  of  his  com 
plete  defeat  and  the  destruction  or  capture  of 
his  army.  This  accomplished,  the  army  of 
the  Shenandoah,  under  General  Johnston, 
increased  with  a  part  of  my  forces  and  re 
joined,  as  he  returned,  by  the  detachment  left 
to  hold  the  mountain-passes,  was  to  march 
back  rapidly  into  the  Valley,  fall  upon  and 
crush  Patterson  with  a  superior  force,  where 
soever  he  might  be  found.  This,  I  confident 
ly  estimated,  could  be  achieved  within  fifteen 
days  after  General  Johnston  should  march 
from  Winchester  for  Manassas. 

"  '  Meanwhile,  I  was  to  occupy  the  enemy's 
works  on  this  side  of  the  Potomac,  if,  as  I 
anticipated,  he  had  been  so  routed  as  to  en 
able  me  to  enter  them  with  him  ;  or  if  not,  to 
retire  again  for  a  time  within  the  lines  of  Bull 
Run  with  my  main  force.  Patterson  having 
been  virtually  destroyed,  then  General  John- 


FAILURE    TO  PURSUE. 


133 


ston  would  reinforce  General  Garnett  suffi 
ciently  to  make  him  superior  to  his  opponent 
(General  McClellan),  and  able  to  defeat  that 
officer.  This  done,  General  Garnett  was  to 
form  an  immediate  junction  with  General 
Johnston,  who  was  forthwith  to  cross  the 
Potomac  into  Maryland  with  his  whole  force, 
arouse  the  people  as  he  advanced  to  the  re 
covery  of  their  political  rights  and  the  de 
fence  of  their  homes  and  families  from  an 
offensive  invader,  and  then  march  to  the  in 
vestment  of  Washington,  in  the  rear,  while  I 
resumed  the  offensive  in  front.  This  plan  of 
operations,  you  are  aware,  was  not  accepta 
ble  at  the  time,  from  considerations  which 
appeared  so  weighty  as  to  more  than  coun 
terbalance  its  proposed  advantages.  In 
formed  of  these  views  and  of  the  decision  of 
the  War  Department,  I  then  made  my  prepa 
rations  for  the  stoutest  practicable  defence  of 
the  line  of  Bull  Run,  the  enemy  having  de 
veloped  his  purpose,  by  the  advance  on,  and 
occupation  of,  Fairfax  Court-House,  from 
which  my  advance  brigade  had  been  with 
drawn. 

"  '  The  War  Department  having  been  in 
formed  by  me,  by  telegraph,  on  July  I7th,  of 
the  movement  of  General  McDowell,  General 
Johnston  was  immediately  ordered  to  form  a 
junction  of  his  army  corps  with  mine,  should 


I34  JEFFERSON  DAVIS. 

the  movement  in  his  judgment  be  deemed 
advisable.  General  Holmes  was  also  directed 
to  push  forward,  with  two  regiments,  a  bat 
tery,  and  one  company  of  cavalry.' ' 

"  The  order  issued  by  the  War  Department 
to  General  Johnston  was  not,  as  herein  re 
ported,  to  form  a  junction  *  should  the  move 
ment  in  his  judgment  be  deemed  advisable/ 
The  following  is  an  accurate  copy  of  the 
order : 

" '  General  Beauregard  is  attacked.  To 
strike  the  enemy  a  decisive  blow,  a  junction 
of  all  your  effective  force  will  be  needed.  If 
practicable  make  the  movement,  sending  your 
sick  and  baggage  to  Culpepper  Court-House, 
either  by  railroad  or  by  Warrenton.  In  all  of 
the  arrangements  exercise  your  discretion.' ' 

"  The  words  '  if  practicable  '  had  reference 
to  letters  of  General  Johnston  of  July  i2th 
and  1 5th,  which  made  it  extremely  doubtful  if 
he  had  the  power  to  make  the  movement,  in 
view  of  the  relative  strength  and  position  of 
Patterson's  forces  as  compared  with  his  own. 

"  The  plan  of  campaign  reported  to  have 
been  submitted,  but  not  accepted,  and  to  have 
led  to  a  decision  of  the  War  Department, 
cannot  be  found  among  its  files,  nor  any  refer 
ence  to  any  decision  made  upon  it ;  and  it 
was  not  known  that  the  army  had  advanced 
beyond  the  line  of  Bull  Run,  the  position  pre- 


FAILURE   TO    PURSUE.  135 

viously  selected  by  General  Lee,  and  which 
was  supposed  to  have  continued  to  be  the  de 
fensive  line  occupied  by  the  main  body  of  our 
forces.  Inquiry  has  developed  the  fact  that 
a  message,  to  be  verbally  delivered,  was  sent 
by  the  Honorable  Mr.  Chesnut.  If  the  con 
jectures  recited  in  the  report  were  entertained, 
they  rested  on  the  accomplishment  of  one 
great  condition,  namely,  that  a  junction  of 
the  forces  of  General  Johnston  and  Holmes 
should  be  made  with  the  army  of  General 
Beauregard  and  should  gain  a  victory.  The 
junction  was  made,  the  victory  was  won  ;  but 
the  consequences  that  were  predicted  did  not 
result.  The  reasons  why  no  such  conse 
quences  could  result  are  given  in  the  closing 
passages  of  the  reports  of  both  the  command 
ing  generals,  and  the  responsibility  cannot  be 
transferred  to  the  Government  at  Richmond, 
which  certainly  would  have  united  in  any 
feasible  plan  to  accomplish  such  desirable 
results. 

"  If  the  plan  of  the  campaign  mentioned  in 
the  report  had  been  presented  in  a  written 
communication,  and  in  sufficient  detail  to  per 
mit  proper  investigation,  it  must  have  been 
pronounced  to  be  impossible  at  that  time,  and 
its  proposal  could  only  have  been  accounted 
for  by  the  want  of  information  of  the  forces 
and  positions  of  the  armies  in  the  field.  The 


136  JEFFERSON  DAVIS. 

facts  which  rendered  it  impossible  are  the 
following : 

"  I.  It  was  based,  as  related  from  memory 
by  Colonel  Chesnut,  on  the  supposition  of 
drawing  a  force  of  about  25,000  men  from  the 
command  of  General  Johnston.  The  letters  of 
General  Johnston  show  his  effective  force  to 
have  been  only  11,000,  with  an  enemy  30,000 
strong  in  his  front,  ready  to  take  possession 
of  the  Valley  of  Virginia  on  his  withdrawal. 

"  II.  It  proposed  to  continue  operations  by 
effecting  a  junction  of  a  part  of  the  victorious 
forces  with  the  army  of  General  Garnett,  in 
Western  Virginia.  General  Garnett's  forces 
amounted  only  to  3  or  4,000  men,  then  known 
to  be  in  rapid  retreat  before  vastly  superior 
forces  under  McClellan,  and  the  news  that 
he  was  himself  killed  and  his  army  scattered 
arrived  within  forty-eight  hours  of  Colonel 
Chesnut's  arrival  in  Richmond. 

"  III.  The  plan  was  based  on  the  improb 
able  and  inadmissible  supposition  that  the 
enemy  was  to  wait  everywhere,  isolated  and 
motionless,  until  our  forces  could  effect  junc 
tions  to  attack  them  in  detail. 

"  IV.  It  could  not  be  expected  that  any  suc 
cess  obtainable  on  the  battle-field  would  en 
able  our  forces  to  carry  the  fortifications 
on  the  Potomac,  garrisoned,  and  within  sup 
porting  distance  of  fresh  troops  ;  nor,  after 


FAILURE   TO  PURSUE.  137 

the  actual  battle  and  victory,  did  the  generals 
on  the  field  propose  an  advance  on  the  Capi 
tol  ;  nor  does  it  appear  that  they  since  have 
believed  themselves-  in  a  condition  to  attempt 
such  a  movement. 

"  It  is  proper  also  to  observe  that  there  is 
no  communication  on  file  in  the  War  Depart 
ment,  as  recited  at  the  close  of  the  report, 
showing"  what  were  the  causes  which  pre 
vented  the  advance  of  our  forces  and  a  pro 
longed,  vigorous  pursuit  of  the  enemy  to  and 
beyond  the  Potomac." 

I  reproduce  these  evidences  of  the  injus 
tice  of  the  slanders  that  attributed  to  my 
husband  the  failure  to  follow  the  victory  at 
Manassas,  because  they  have  been  repro 
duced  in  book  form,  and  may  be  regarded  in 
foreign  lands  as  Confederate  authorities.  I 
learn  the  refutations  have  not  been  seen  by 
writers  who  otherwise  would  have  been  im 
partial  historians  of  the  war  between  the 
States,  and  have  far  from  exhausted  the  proof 
of  the  absolute  verity  of  my  husband's  refuta 
tion  ;  but  I  have  quoted  enough  to  enable 
the  reader  to  see  the  gross  injustice  of  the 
accusation  that  he  was  responsible  for  the 
non-action  of  our  armies. 


CHAPTER  XIV. 

GENERAL  JOHNSTON'S  CORRESPONDENCE. 

AFTER  the  battle  of  Manassas  the  Confed 
erate  army  settled  down  in  camp  at  and 
around  Centreville. 

Although  after  combining  the  armies  of 
Generals  Johnston  and  Beauregard  at  Man 
assas  the  command  of  the  whole  would  un 
questionably  devolve  upon  General  Johnston, 
matters  did  not  apparently  run  smoothly  be 
tween  the  two  generals,  and  conflicts  of  au 
thority  occurred,  as  will  appear  by  the  follow 
ing  letters  and  telegrams.* 

In  fact,  General  Johnston  brooked  no  in 
terference  with  his  command,  even  by  his  su 
periors  in  the  government  at  Richmond. 

On  July  24,  1861,  General  J.  E.  Johnston 
wrote  to  General  Cooper,  the  Adjutant-Gen 
eral,  as  follows  : 

"  GENERAL  :  Lieutenant-Colonel  Maury  re 
ported  to  me  this  morning  as  A.  A.  G.,  be 
ing  assigned  to  that  place  by  General  Lee.  I 
had  already  selected  Major  Rhett  for  the  po- 

*  Published  for  the  first  time. 


GEN.   JOHNSTON'S   CORRESPONDENCE.      139 

sition  in  question,  who  had  entered  upon  its 
duties,  and  can  admit  the  power  of  no  officer  of 
the  Army  to  annul  my  order  on  the  subject  • 
nor  can  I    admit  the    claim  of  any   officer  to 
the  command  of  ( the  forces?  being  myself  the 
ranking  General  of  the  Confederate  Army* 
"  Let  me  add  that  I  have  a  high  opinion  of 
Lieutenant-Colonel  Maury  as  an  officer,  and 
warm  personal  regard  for  him. 
"  Most  respectfully, 

"  Your  obedient  servant, 
"  JOSEPH  E.  JOHNSTON, 
"  General  C.  S.  A" 

Upon  this  letter  President  Davis  endorsed 
the  word,  "  insubordinate." 

On  July  29,  1 86 1,  General  Johnston  wrote 
again  to  General  Cooper  : 

"HEADQUARTERS,    MANASSAS,  July  29,    1861. 

"  GENERAL  :  I  had  the  honor  to  write  to  you 
on  the  24th  instant  on  the  subject  of  my  rank 
compared  with  that  of  other  officers  of  the 
Confederate  Army.  Since  then  I  have  re 
ceived  daily  orders  purporting  to  come  from 
the  '  Head  Quarters  of  the  forces'  some  of 
them  in  relation  to  the  internal  affairs  of  this 
army. 

*  The  italics  are  the  author's. 


HO  JEFFERSON  DAVIS. 

"  Such  orders  I  cannot  regard,  because  they 
are  illegal. 

"  Permit  me  to  suggest  that  orders  should 
come  from  your  office. 

"  Most  respectfully, 
"  Your  obedient  servant, 
"  J.  E.  JOHNSTON, 
"  General  C.  S.  A.  " 

Upon  this  letter  President  Davis  also  en 
dorsed  the  word  "insubordinate." 

On  August  i,  1 86 1,  President  Davis  wrote 
to  General  Johnston  at  Manassas  as  follows  : 

"  We  are  anxiously  looking  for  official 
reports  of  the  battle  of  Manassas,  and  have 
present  need  to  know  what  supplies  and 
wagons  were  captured.  I  wish  you  would 
have  prepared  a  statement  of  your  wants  in 
transportation  and  supplies  of  all  kinds,  to 
put  your  army  on  a  proper  footing  for  active 
operations.  . 

"  I  am  as  ever  your  friend, 
(Signed)  "  JEFFERSON    DAVIS." 

General  Johnston  apparently  becoming 
more  and  more  impatient  and  irritated  at  af 
fairs  at  Centreville  and  at  Richmond,  wrote  to 
the  President  under  date  of  September  loth, 
as  follows  : 


GEN.   JOHNSTON'S   CORRESPONDENCE.     141 
"  MANASSAS,  September  10,  1861. 

"  His  EXCELLENCY,  THE  PRESIDENT. 

"  SIR  :  It  was  said  that  during  the  past 
summer  I  have  been  censured  by  the  two  per 
sons  in  Richmond  highest  in  military  rank, 
for  not  having  assumed  command  of  this 
army,  and  that  they  complain  of  the  incon 
venience  to  the  service  which  had  been  pro 
duced  thereby. 

"  Permit  me  to  say  that  this  accusation  is 
untrue.  I  am,  and  have  been,  in  command 
of  the  army.  Have  felt  the  responsibility  of 
that  command,  and  understood  that,  even  if 
so  disposed,  I  could  not  put  it  aside, 

"  The  fact  that  I  treat  General  Beauregard 
in  the  manner  due  to  the  commander  of  a 
corps  d'armee,  not  in  the  manner  usual  from 
a  United  States  colonel  to  his  next  in  rank, 
must  have  produced  this  impression.  Let  me 
remind  you,  too,  that  in  an  army  which  has 
been  almost  stationary,  there  are  few  orders 
necessary  to  the  commander  of  an  army 
corps. 

"  Having  heard  no  specification  of  incon 
veniences,  I  shall  not  attempt  specific  defence, 
but  will  venture  to  say  that  the  inconven 
iences  perceived  in  the  army  have  been 
thought  by  it  to  have  been  produced  in  Rich 
mond. 

"  I  have  taken  the  liberty,  more  than  once, 


142  JEFFERSON  DAVIS. 

to  suggest  to  you  to  assume  the  military  func 
tions  of  the  Presidency,  and  to  command  on 
this  northern  frontier.  I  thought  my  mean 
ing  was  very  plainly  expressed.  I  find  I  was 
mistaken,  and  that  you  regard  one  of  the 
last  expressions  of  this  idea  as  not  applicable 
to  yourself.  I  may  have  written  carelessly 
because,  being  by  our  laws  next  in  military 
place  to  yourself,  it  did  not  occur  to  me  that 
anyone  else  could  be  supposed  to  be  thought 
of.  In  offering  this  suggestion,  I  was  prompt 
ed  by  the  idea  that  such  a  course  on  your 
part  would  prevent  any  political  agitation  in 
the  country. 

"  Most  respectfully, 
•  "  Your  obedient  servant, 

"  J.  E.  JOHNSTON,  General'' 

"  I  could  not  doubt  from  your  letters  to 
me  that  you  considered  me  as  commanding 
this  army.  "  J.  E.  JOHNSTON." 

"RICHMOND,  VA.,  September  13,  1861. 

"  GENERAL  J.  E.  JOHNSTON,  Manassas,  Va. 

"  MY  DEAR  GENERAL  :  Yours  of  the  loth 
instant  is  before  me,  and  I  can  only  suppose 
that  you  have  been  deceived  by  someone 
of  that  class  in  whose  absence  '  the  strife 
ceaseth.'  While  you  were  in  the  Valley  of 
Virginia,  your  army  and  that  of  General 


GEN.   JOHNSTON'S   CORRESPONDENCE.     143 

Beauregard  were  independent  commands ; 
when  you  marched  to  Manassas,  the  forces 
joined  and  did  duty  together.  I  trust  the 
two  officers  highest  in  military  rank  in  Rich 
mond  were  too  well  informed  to  have  doubted 
in  either  case  as  to  your  power  and  duty. 

"  Persons  have  talked  here  of  the  command 
of  yourself  and  Beauregard  as  separate  armies, 
and  complaints  have  been  uttered  to  the  effect 
that  you  took  the  reinforcements  and  guns 
for  your  own  army ;  but  to  educated  soldiers 
this  could  only  seem  the  muttering  of  the  un- 
instructed,  the  rivalry  of  those  who  did  not 
comprehend  that  unity  was  a  necessity,  a  law 
of  existence. 

"  Not  having  heard  the  accusations,  I  am 
like  yourself  ignorant  of  the  specifications,  and 
will  add  that  I  do  not  believe  any  disposition 
has  existed  on  the  part  of  the  gentlemen  to 
whom  you  refer  to  criticise,  still  less  to  de 
tract  from,  you.  If  they  believed  that  you  did 
not  exercise  command  over  the  whole  it  was, 
I  doubt  not,  ascribed  to  delicacy. 

"  You  are  not  mistaken  in  your  construc 
tion  of  my  letters  having  been  written  to  you 
as  the  Commanding  General.  I  have,  how 
ever,  sometimes  had  to  repel  the  idea  that 
there  was  a  want  of  co-operation  between 
yourself  and  the  second  in  command,  or  a 
want  of  recognition  of  your  position  as  the 


144  JEFFERSON  DAVIS. 

senior  and  commanding  general  of  all  the 
forces  serving  at  or  near  the  field  of  your  late 
brilliant  achievements. 

"  While  writing,  it  occurs  to  me  that  state 
ments  have  been  made,  and  official  applica 
tions  received,  in  relation  to  staff  officers 
which  suggested  a  contingence  of  separation 
rather  than  unity  in  the  '  army  of  the  Poto 
mac.' 

"  I  did  not  understand  your  suggestion  as 
to  a  commander-in-chief  for  your  army.  The 
laws  of  the  Confederacy  in  relation  to  gen 
erals  have  provisions  which  are  new  and  un 
settled  by  decisions,  their  provisions  special, 
and  as  the  attention  of  Congress  was  called  to 
what  might  be  regarded  as  a  conflict  of  laws, 
their  action  was  confined  to  the  fixing  of  dates 
for  the  generals  of  the  Confederate  States 
Army.  "  Your  friend, 

"  JEFFERSON  DAVIS." 

Before  the  receipt  of  the  foregoing  letter 
of  the  President,  General  Johnston  addressed 
him  as  follows  : 

"  HEADQUARTERS,  MANASSAS,   September  12,   1861. 

"  SIR  :  I  have  had  the  honor  to  receive 
through  the  War  Department  a  copy  of  the 
proceedings  of  Congress  on  August  31,  1861, 
confirming  the  nominations  made  by  the  Pres- 


GEN.   JOHNSTON'S   CORRESPONDENCE.     145 

ident  of  the  Confederate  States  of  five  Gen 
erals  of  the  Confederate  Army  and  fixing  their 
relative  rank. 

"  I  will  not  affect  to  disguise  the  surprise 
and  mortification  produced  in  my  mind  by  the 
action  taken  in  this  matter  by  the  President 
and  by  Congress.  I  beg  to  state  further, 
with  the  most  profound  respect  for  both 
branches  of  the  Government,  that  these  pro 
ceedings  are  in  violation  of  my  rights  as  an 
officer,  of  the  plighted  faith  of  the  Confeder 
acy,  and  of  the  Constitution  and  laws  of  the 
land.  Such  being  my  views,  lest  my  silence 
should  be  deemed  significant  of  acquiescence, 
it  is  a  duty  as  well  as  a  right  on  my  part,  at 
once  to  enter  my  earnest  protest  against  the 
wrong  which  I  conceive  has  been  done  me. 
I  now  and  here  declare  my  claim  that,  not 
withstanding  the  nominations  made  by  the 
President,  and  their  confirmation  by  Congress, 
I  still  rightfully  hold  the  rank  of  first  Gen 
eral  in  the  armies  of  the  Southern  Confed 
eracy.  I  will  proceed  briefly  to  state  the 
grounds  upon  which  I  rest  this  claim. 

"  The  act  of  the  Confederate  Congress  of 
March  6,  1861,  section  8,  amended  by  that 
of  March  14,  1861,  section  2,  creates  the 
grade  of  Brigadier-General  as  the  highest 
rank  in  their  service,  and  provides  that  there 
shall  be  five  officers  of  that  grade.  The  fifth 

VOL.  II.— 10 


146  JEFFERSON  DAVIS. 

section  of  the  last-named  act  enacts  *  That  in 
all  cases  of  officers  who  have  resigned,  or  who 
may  within  six  months  tender  their  resigna 
tion  from  the  army  of  the  United  States,  and 
who  have  been  or  may  be  appointed  to  orig 
inal  vacancies  in  the  army  of  the  Confederate 
States,  the  commissions  issued  shall  have 
been  one  and  the  same  date,  so  that  the  rel 
ative  rank  of  officers  shall  be  determined  by 
their  former  commissions  in  the  United  States 
Army  held  anterior  to  the  secession  of  the 
Confederate  States  from  the  United  States.' 

"  Under  these  laws,  on  May  13,  1861,  R. 
E.  Lee  and  myself  were  nominated  as  Briga 
dier-Generals  in  the  Confederate  States  Army. 
Samuel  Cooper  had  been  nominated  to  the 
same  grade  and  confirmed  a  few  weeks  pre 
viously. 

"  The  nominations  of  myself  and  R.  E.  Lee 
were  confirmed  by  Congress  promptly.  Each 
of  the  three  had  resigned  his  commission  in 
the  United  States  Army  in  accordance  with 
the  terms  of  the  law.  The  other  two  had  re 
signed  colonelcies,  but  the  commission  which 
I  had  resigned  was  that  of  a  Brigadier-Gen 
eral.  It  is  plain,  then,  that  under  these  laws 
I  was  the  officer  first  in  rank  in  the  Confed 
erate  Army.  Two  or  three  days  afterward, 
on  May  i6th,  Congress,  by  the  second  section 
of  its  act  of  that  date,  enacted,  '  That  the  five 


GEN.  JOHNSTON'S   CORRESPONDENCE.     147 

general  officers  provided  by  existing  laws 
for  the  Confederate  States  shall  have  the 
rank  and  denomination  of  "  General"  instead 
of  "  Brigadier-General,"  which  shall  be  the 
highest  military  grade  known  to  the  Confed 
erate  States.  They  shall  be  assigned  to  such 
commands  and  duties  as  the  President  may 
specially  direct,  and  shall  be  entitled  to  the 
same  pay/  etc. 

"  I  conceive,  and  I  submit  to  the  careful 
consideration  of  the  Government,  that  this  sec 
tion  of  the  act  last  cited  operated  in  two  ways  : 
i.  It  abolished  the  grade  of  Brigadier-Gen 
eral  in  the  Confederate  Army.  2.  It  at  once, 
by  the  mere  force  of  law,  raised  the  three  of 
ficers  already  named  to  the  rank  and  denom 
ination  of  '  General '  in  the  army  of  the  Con 
federate  States.  The  right,  therefore,  which 
I  claim  to  my  rank  is  founded  on  this  act. 
Congress  by  its  act,  the  President  by  his  ap 
proval  of  it,  at  once  made  us  Generals.  It  is 
clear  that  such  likewise  was  the  construction 
of  both  branches  of  the  Government,  else  why 
were  not  nominations  made  then  ?  It  was  a 
time  of  flagrant  war.  Either  we  were  Gener 
als,  or  the  army  and  country  were  left  without 
such  officers.  Our  former  grade  had  been 
abolished.  We  were  not  Brigadier-Generals, 
we  were  nothing,  and  could  perform  no  mili 
tary  duty,  exercise  no  command.  I  think  it 


148  JEFFERSON  DAVIS. 

clear  that  I  was  a  General  by  the  plain  terms 
of  the  law.  It  is  plain  from  the  action  of  the 
President  and  Congress  that  such  was  their 
construction,  as  I  was  at  once  ordered  to  Har 
per's  Ferry  to  take  command  in  the  valley  of 
Virginia,  and  the  President  soon  after  placed 
three  Brigadier  -  Generals  under  my  orders. 
In  hurrying  to  assume  the  command  in  the 
valley  of  Virginia,  I  did  not  wait  for  my  com 
mission  to  be  sent  to  me.  I  did  not  doubt 
that  it  would  be  made  out,  for  I  was  per 
suaded  that  it  was  my  right,  and  had  no  idea 
that  there  was  any  purpose  of  withholding  it. 
I  remained  two  months  in  the  valley,  too  ear 
nestly  engaged  in  the  public  service  to  busy 
myself  particularly  in  my  personal  interests. 
But  when  the  emergencies  of  the  campaign 
required  me  to  march  to  Manassas,  and  to  act 
with  another  general  officer,  I  appreciated 
the  importance  and  the  indispensable  neces 
sity  of  not  leaving  the  question  of  rank  open 
or  doubtful  between  us.  With  this  view  I 
transmitted  a  telegraphic  despatch  to  the 
President  on  July  2Oth,  inquiring,  in  the  sim 
plest  and  most  direct  terms,  what  my  rank 
was.  He  replied  that  I  was  a  General.  The 
battle  of  Manassas  ensued  on  the  next  day. 
The  President  came  in  person  to  participate 
in  it,  but  reached  the  scene  of  action  soon  af 
ter  the  close  of  the  struggle.  The  morning 


GEN.   JOHNSTON'S   CORRESPONDENCE.     14$ 

after  the  battle  he  announced  his  purpose  to 
elevate  General  Beauregard  to  the  rank  of 
General.  He  returned  to  Richmond  the  en 
suing  day.  The  nomination  was  made  imme 
diately  on  his  return,  and  was  promptly  con 
firmed  by  Congress.  General  Beauregard 
then  became  a  General  and  ranked  me  unless 
I  was  such  by  virtue  of  the  act  of  Congress 
on  May  i6th,  already  referred  to.  Yet  from 
the  time  of  General  Beauregard's  appoint 
ment  to  the  day  of  the  renewed  nominations 
I  continued  to  act  as  the  commanding  Gen 
eral  of  the  '  Army  of  the  Potomac/  under  the 
authority  of  the  President  and  of  the  Depart 
ment  of  War.  Thus  it  appears  that  I  have 
the  sanction  of  the  President  to  my  claim  of 
rank  under  the  act  of  Congress.  In  addition 
to  this,  my  rank  was  expressly  recognized  by 
Congress  also  in  the  resolutions  adopted  by 
that  body  returning  the  thanks  of  Congress 
to  General  Johnston,  to  General  Beauregard, 
and  to  the  officers  and  soldiers  of  the  army 
for  the  victory  of  Manassas. 

"  Thus  stood  matters  when  the  recent  nom 
inations  were  made.  But  one  additional  name 
was  offered — that  of  A.  S.  Johnston.  His 
commission  in  the  army  of  the  United  States 
had  been  that  of  Colonel.  I  as  resigning  the 
higher  rank  in  that  army,  was,  by  the  provi 
sions  of  the  act  of  Congress  of  March  14,  1 86 1, 


150  JEFFERSON  DAVIS. 

and  the  plighted  faith  of  the  Government  of 
the  Confederate  States,  the  General  first  in 
rank  in  their  armies.  By  that  act  and  that  of 
May  16,  1861,  the  rank  would  stand  thus  :  J. 
E.  Johnston,  S.  Cooper,  A.  S.  Johnston,  R.  E. 
Lee,  G.  T.  Beauregard.* 

"  I  held,  and  claim  to  hold,  my  rank  as  Gen 
eral  under  the  act  of  May  16,  1861.  I  was  a 
General  thenceforth  or  never.  I  had  the  full 
authority  of  the  constitutional  Government  of 
the  Confederate  States  to  sustain  me.  Here 
tofore  those  who  disputed  my  authority  as 
General  have  done  so  because  they  denied 
the  existence  of  the  Government  whose  officer 
I  claimed  to  be.  Now  that  Government  joins 
the  hostile  power  in  denying  my  authority. 
When  I  sent  back  the  missives  of  the  Gov- 


*  In  a  letter  from  the  President,  in  answer  to  one  of  mine  regretting 
that  General  Johnston  should  feel  annoyed,  as  he  was  a  friend  and 
his  wife  was  very  dear  to  me,  I  find  this  remark  :  "  General  Johnston 
does  not  remember  that  he  did  not  leave  the  United  States  Army 
to  enter  the  Confederate  States  Army,  but  that  he  entered  the  Army 
of  Virginia,  and  when  Virginia  joined  the  Confederacy  he  came  to 
the  Confederate  States  ;  also  that  in  the  Virginia  Army  he  was  the 
subordinate  of  Lee,  and  that  they  were  nominated  to  our  Provisional 
Congress  at  the  same  time  and  with  the  same  relative  rank  they  had 
in  Virginia.  The  Quartermaster-General  had  only  assimilated  or 
protective  rank,  and  from  it  derived  no  right  to  command,  but  by  law 
was  prohibited  from  exercising  command  of  troops."  General  John 
ston's  promotion  under  the  old  Government  to  be  Quartermaster- 
General  was  violently  opposed  in  the  Senate,  and  Mr.  Davis,  then  a 
Senator,  spoke  for  the  greater  part  of  two  hours  to  carry  the  point, 
and  did  so,  and  received  General  Johnston's  acknowledgments  for 
the  service. 


GEN.   JOHNSTONS   CORRESPONDENCE.     151 

ernment  of  the  United  States,  because  they  ig 
nored  the  Government  which  I  served  and  ac 
knowledged,  I  little  thought  that  one  of  the 
acts  of  that  Government  would  be  to  ignore  me 
as  its  officer,  by  trampling  upon  its  own  solemn 
legislative  and  executive  action.  The  nomina 
tion  seeks  to  annul  the  irrevocable  part,  and  to 
make  me  such  only  from  the  4th  day  of  July. 
The  present,  and  so  far  as  human  legislation 
may  operate,  the  future,  may  be  controlled  by 
Congress.  Human  power  cannot  affect  the 
past.  Congress  may  vacate  my  commission 
arid  reduce  me  to  the  ranks.  It  cannot  make 
it  true  that  I  was  not  a  General  before  July 
4,  1861. 

"  The  effect  of  the  course  pursued  is  this: 
It  transfers  me  from  the  position  first  in  rank 
to  that  of  fourth.  The  relative  rank  of  the 
others  among  themselves  is  unaltered.  It 
is  plain  that  this  is  a  blow  aimed  at  me  only. 
It  reduces  my  rank  in  the  grade  I  hold.  This 
has  never  been  done  heretofore  in  the  regu 
lar  service  in  America  but  by  the  sentence  of 
a  court-martial  as  a  punishment  and  as  a  dis 
grace  for  some  military  offence.  It  seeks  to 
tarnish  my  fair  fame  as  a  soldier  and  as  a  man, 
earned  by  more  than  thirty  years  of  laborious 
and  perilous  service.  I  had  but  this — the 
scars  of  many  wounds,  all  honestly  taken  in  my 
front  and  in  the  front  of  battle,  and  my  father's 


\&  JEFFERSON  DAVIS. 

revolutionary  sword.  It  was  delivered  to 
from  his  venerable  hand  without  a  stain  of  dis 
honor.  Its  blade  is  still  unblemished  as  when 
it  passed  from  his  hand  to  mine.  I  drew  it 
in  the  war,  not  for  rank  or  fame,  but  to  defend 
the  sacred  soil,  the  homes  and  hearths,  the 
women  and  children,  ay,  and  the  men  of  my 
mother,  Virginia — my  native  South.  It  may 
hereafter  be  the  sword  of  a  general  leading 
armies,  or  of  a  private  volunteer.  But  while  I 
live  and  have  an  arm  to  wield  it,  it  shall  never 
be  sheathed  until  the  freedom,  independence, 
and  full  rights  of  the  South  are  achieved. 
When  that  is  done,  it  may  well  be  a  matter  of 
small  concern  to  the  Government,  to  Congress, 
or  to  the  country,  what  my  rank  or  lot  may  be. 

"  I  shall  be  satisfied  if  my  country  stands 
among  the  powers  of  the  world  free,  power 
ful,  and  victorious,  and  that  I  as  a  general,  a 
lieutenant,  or  a  volunteer  soldier,  have  borne 
my  part  in  the  glorious  strife,  and  contributed 
to  the  final  blessed  consummation. 

"  What  has  the  aspect  of  a  studied  indig 
nity  is  offered  me.  My  noble  associate  with 
me  in  the  battle  has  his  preferment  connected 
with  the  victory  won  by  our  common  trials 
and  dangers.  His  commission  bears  the  date 
of  July  21,  1 86 1,  but  care  seems  to  be  taken 
to  exclude  the  idea  that  I  had  any  part  in 
winning  our  triumph. 


GEN.   JOtiNSTON^S  CORRESPONDENCE.     153 

"  My  commission  is  made  to  bear  such  a 
date  that  my  once  inferiors  in  the  service  of 
the  United  States  and  of  the  Confederate 
States  shall  be  above  me.  But  it  must  not 
be  dated  as  of  July  2ist,  nor  be  suggestive  of 
the  victory  of  Manassas. 

"  I  return  to  my  first  position.  I  repeat 
that  my  rank  as  General  is  established  by 
the  acts  of  Congress  of  March  14,  1861,  and 
May  1 6,  1861.  To  deprive  me  of  that  rank 
it  was  necessary  for  Congress  to  repeal  these 
laws.  That  could  be  done  by  express  leg 
islative  act  alone.  It  was  not  done,  it  could 
not  be  done  by  a  mere  vote  in  secret  session 
upon  a  list  of  nominations. 

"  If  the  action  against  which  I  have  pro 
tested  is  legal,  it  is  not  for  me  to  question  the 
expediency  of  degrading  one  who  has  served 
laboriously  from  the  commencement  of  the 
war  on  this  frontier,  and  borne  a  prominent 
part  in  the  only  great  event  of  that  war,  for 
the  benefit  of  persons  neither  of  whom  has 
yet  struck  a  blow  for  this  Confederacy. 

"  These  views  and  the  freedom  with 
which  they  are  presented  may  be  unusual, 
so  likewise  is  the  occasion  which  calls  them 
forth. 

"  I  have  the  honor  to  be,  most  respectfully, 
"  Your  obedient  servant, 

"  J.  E.  JOHNSTON,  General'' 


154  JEFFERSON  DAVIS. 

To  which  letter  Mr.  Davis  briefly  replied 
as  follows  : 

"RICHMOND,  VA.,  September  14,  1861. 

"  GENERAL  J.  E.  JOHNSTON  : 

"  SIR  :  I  have  just  received  and  read  your 
letter  of  the  i2th  instant.  Its  language  is,  as 
you  say,  unusual ;  its  arguments  and  state 
ments  utterly  one-sided,  and  its  insinuations 
as  unfounded  as  they  are  unbecoming. 
"  I  am,  etc., 

"  JEFFERSON  DAVIS." 

General  Johnston  in  his  "  Narrative  "  re 
specting  the  foregoing  letter  says  : 

"  I  wrote  the  President  such  a  statement 
as  the  preceding  (referring  to  his  rank  in  the 
army  of  the  United  States),  and  also  ex 
pressed  my  sense  of  the  wrong  done  me. 

"  But  in  order  that  the  sense  of  injury 
might  not  betray  me  into  the  use  of  language 
improper  for  an  officer  to  the  President,  I  laid 
aside  the  letter  for  two  days,  and  then  ex 
amined  it  dispassionately.  I  believe,  and  was 
confident  that  what  it  contained  was  not  im 
proper  to  be  said  to  the  President,  nor  im 
properly  said.  The  letter  was  therefore  de 
spatched. 

"  It  is  said  to  have  irritated  him,  and  that 
his  irritation  was  freely  expressed." 


GEN.   JOHNSTONS   CORRESPONDENCE.     155 

Those  who  have  read  the  telegrams  and 
letters  from  the  President  sent  to  General 
Johnston  up  to  the  date  of  the  above-men 
tioned  letter,  will  observe  the  kind,  courte 
ous  and  friendly  tone  in  which  the  Presi 
dent  always  addressed  him,  and  it  is  not 
to  be  wondered  at  that  it  produced  the 
"irritation''  (if  nothing  more)  that  General 
Johnston  mentions.  That  it  did  not  inter 
fere,  however,  with  their  "  official  "  relations 
will  be  observed  in  their  later  correspond 
ence. 

General  Johnston's  remark  that  the  Presi 
dent's  irritation  was  freely  expressed  shows 
either  a  desire  to  justify  himself  for  constant 
strictures  upon  the  President,  or  that  he  ig 
nored  the  President's  reticent  temper.  In  the 
whole  period  of  his  official  relation  to  General 
Johnston,  in  the  confidence  of  family  inter 
course,  I  never  heard  him  utter  a  word  in  de 
rogation  of  General  Johnston,  though  he  of 
ten  differed  from  him  in  his  views  of  military 
strategy. 

Of  camp  gossip  one  would  suppose  that  a 
man  so  eminent  as  General  Johnston  would 
take  no  cognizance,  still  less  repeat  it  as  the 
substance  of  a  charge  against  another. 

In  connection  with  the  foregoing  letter  of 
General  Johnston,  it  may  be  as  well  to  give 
here  the  roster  of  the  "  Generals  "  of  the 


156  JEFFERSON  DAVIS. 

Confederate  army  in  1861-62.  They  were  as 
follows : 

Samuel  Cooper,  to  rank  May  16,  1861. 

Albert  Sidney  Johnston,  to  rank  May  30, 
1 861. 

Robert  E.  Lee,  to  rank  June  14,  1861. 

J.  E.  Johnston,  to  rank  July  4,  1861. 

G.  T.  Beauregard,  to  rank  July  21,  1861. 

Braxton  Bragg,  to  rank  April  12,  1862. 

To  explain  even  more  fully  the  position 
taken  by  Mr.  Davis  in  assigning  the  above- 
named  officers  to  their  relative  rank,  the 
following  extract  is  taken  from  "  Destruction 
and  Reconstruction "  by  General  Richard 
Taylor.  He  writes : 

"  Near  the  close  of  President  Buchanan's 
administration,  in  1860,  died  General  Jessup, 
Quartermaster-General  of  the  United  States 
Army  ;  and  J.  E.  Johnston,  then  Lieutenant- 
Colonel  of  Cavalry,  was  appointed  to  the 
vacancy. 

"  Now  the  Quartermaster-General  had  the 
rank,  pay,  and  emoluments  of  a  Brigadier- 
General  ;  but  the  rank  was  staff,  and  by  law 
this  officer  could  not  exercise  command  over 
the  troops  unless  by  special  assignment. 
When,  in  the  spring  of  1861,  the  officers  in 
question  entered  the  service  of  the  Confeder 
acy,  Cooper  had  been  Adjutant-General  of 
the  United  States  Army,  with  the  rank  of 


GEN.    JOHNSTON'S   CORRESPONDENCE.     157 

Colonel  ;  Albert  Sidney  Johnston,  Colonel, 
and  Brigadier- General  by  brevet,  and  on  duty 
as  such ;  Lee,  Lieutenant- Colonel  of  Caval 
ry,  senior  to  J.  E.  Johnston  in  the  line  before 
the  latter's  appointment  above  mentioned  ; 
Beauregard,  Major  of  Engineers. 

"  General  Beauregard,  who  about  this  time 
was  transferred  to  the  Army  of  the  West, 
commanded  by  Albert  Sidney  Johnston,  was 
also  known  to  have  grievances.  .  .  .  In 
discreet  persons  at  Richmond,  claiming  the 
privilege  and  discharging  the  duty  of  friend 
ship,  gave  tongue  to  loud  and  frequent  plaints, 
and  increased  the  confusion  of  the  hour." 

In  a  letter  to  Honorable  James  Lyons,  of 
Richmond,  Va.,  dated  August  30,  1878,  Mr. 
Davis  says : 

"  In  relation  to  the  complaint  of  my  giving 
General  Lee  the  higher  rank,  I  have  only  to 
say  that  it  seems  to  me  quite  absurd.  Of 
the  two,  General  Lee  had  the  higher  rank  as 
a  cadet ;  came  out  of  Mexico  with  a  higher 
brevet ;  had  the  higher  rank  in  the  cavalry  of 
the  United  States  ;  had  the  higher  rank  in 
the  Army  of  Virginia,  from  which  they  both 
came  to  join  the  Confederate  Army,  and  was 
named  first  when  both  were  nominated  to  the 
Congress  for  commissions  as  Brigadier-Gen 
erals  of  the  Confederacy.  It  is  true  General 
Johnston,  as  Quartermaster- General  of  the 


158  JEFFERSON  DAVIS. 

United  States,  had  the  staff  commission  as 
Brigadier-General.  It  is  equally  true  that  he 
was  prohibited  by  virtue  of  that  commission 
from  assuming  command  of  troops. 

"  I  suppose  he  knew  that  when  he  was 
nominated  to  be  Quartermaster-General.  I 
was  chairman  of  the  Committee  on  Military 
Affairs,  reported  the  nomination  with  the  rec 
ommendation  that  he  be  confirmed  ;  that  it 
met  serious  opposition,  and  that  all  my  power 
and  influence  were  required  to  prevent  its 
rejection. 

"  In  that  contest  I  had  no  aid  from  the 
Senators  of  Virginia,  perhaps  because  of  their 
want  of  confidence  in  Mr.  Floyd. 

"  If  Mason  were  living,  he  could  tell  more 
of  this  than  I  am  disposed  to  say." 

An  officer  of  the  War  Department  at  Wash 
ington,  when  sending  Mr.  Davis,  in  Septem 
ber,  1880,  copies  of  General  Johnston's  letters 
of  March,  1862,  said:  "The  official  records 
when  published  will  not  add  to,  but  greatly 
detract  from,  General  Johnston's  reputation." 
He  adds  :  "  I  can  hardly  conceive  how  you 
(Mr.  Davis)  could  so  long  have  borne  with 
the  '  snarly  tone '  of  his  letters,  which  he 
wrote  at  all  times  and  on  all  pretexts." 


CHAPTER   XV. 

THE    OPPOSITION   OF   CONGRESS   TO   THE   PRESI 
DENT. 

THE  term  of  the  Provisional  Congress  was 
now  rapidly  drawing"  to  a  close.  The  newly 
elected  senators  and  members  were  to  be 
sworn  in,  and  the  President's  co-laborers  in 
the  formative  period  of  the  Government  were 
to  go  out  of  office.  Many  of  them  were  val 
ued  friends,  and  had  a  co-intelligence  with 
him  born  of  esteem  and  long  observation  of 
his  habits  of  thought  and  his  methods  in  the 
United  States  Senate.  He  was  loth  to  part 
from  them,  and  felt  that  their  experience 
would  render  them  more  useful  to  the  Govern 
ment  than  new  men  could  be,  even  though 
these  might  possess  more  ability  ;  so  that  the 
year  opened  with  an  anxious  sense  of  some 
thing  being  out  of  tune. 

The  paramount  questions  of  the  hour  were, 
of  course,  to  arm  men  for  the  contest,  to  pro 
cure  ships  and  equip  them  for  the  destruc 
tion  of  the  merchant  marine  of  the  United 
States,  and  to  form  an  effective  financial  pol 
icy.  On  this  last  point  there  were  many 


160  JEFFERSON  DAVIS. 

opinions,  and  there  had  been  many  efforts 
made  by  members  of  both  houses  to  convince 
the  President  of  the  expediency  of  selling 
cotton  to  the  enemy  ;  a  larger  party  advo 
cated  the  exportation  of  all  the  cotton  grown 
in  the  country  to  England.  Where  the  ships 
were  to  come  from  for  this  immense  exporta 
tion  they  did  not  point  out ;  carriers  would 
not  be  swift  enough  to  run  the  blockade,  and 
the  cotton  would  be  captured,  and  serve  to 
supply  the  manufacturers  of  New  England. 
The  men  whose  families  were  in  need,  and  at 
whose  gin-houses  the  means  of  relief  lay  piled 
in  bulky  plenty,  of  course  leaned  toward  the 
malcontents.  When  all  this  cumbrous  and  un 
available  wealth  was  burned  by  the  Govern 
ment,  the  dissatisfaction  of  some  gave  tongue. 
The  President  and  his  advisers  looked  to  the 
stringency  of  the  English  cotton  market,  and 
the  suspension  of  the  manufactories,  to  send 
up  a  ground-swell  from  the  English  operatives 
that  would  compel  recognition,  and  grudged 
every  pound  of  cotton  exported.  Now  for 
the  first  time  there  appeared  to  be  an  orga 
nized  party  in  opposition  to  the  Administra 
tion.  This  might  have  been  weakened  by 
daily  social  intercourse,  and  habituated  as  we 
were  to  giving  numerous  entertainments  of 
an  official  character,  we  should  gladly  have 
kept  up  the  custom  ;  but  during  every  enter- 


OPPOSITION  OF   CONGRESS.  161 

tainment,  without  exception,  either  the  death 
of  a  relation  was  announced  to  a  guest,  or 
a  disaster  to  the  Confederacy  was  tele 
graphed  to  the  President.  He  was  a  ner 
vous  dyspeptic  by  habit,  and  if  he  was  forced 
to  eat  under  any  excitement,  was  ill  after  it 
for  days.  He  said  he  could  do  either  one 
duty  or  the  other — give  entertainments  or 
administer  the  Government — and  he  fancied 
he  was  expected  to  perform  the  latter  service 
in  preference  ;  and  so  we  ceased  to  entertain, 
except  at  formal  receptions  or  informal  din 
ners  and  breakfasts  given  to  as  many  as  Mr. 
Davis's  health  permitted  us  to  invite.  In  the 
evening  he  was  too  exhausted  to  receive  in 
formal  visitors.  The  Examiner  sent  forth  a 
wail  of  regret  over  the  "  parsimony  of  the 
Administration."  It  touched  feelingly  upon 
the  deprivation  to  the  young  people  of  Rich 
mond  of  not  being  received  in  the  evening, 
the  assumption  of  "  superior  dignity  by  the 
satraps,"  etc.  This  became  a  fierce  growl, 
as  it  contemplated  the  awful  contingency  of 
the  "  President  getting  rich  on  his  savings." 

It  would  have  been  much  better  if  the 
President  could  have  met  the  Congress,  and 
the  State  officials  as  well  as  the  citizens, 
socially  and  often,  for  the  magnetism  of  his 
personality  would  have  greatly  mollified  their 
resentments  ;  but  for  years  his  physician  had 
VOL.  II.— ii 


162  JEFFERSON  DAVIS. 

forbidden  him  to  go  at  all  into  society  in 
Washington,  and  he  found  this  disability 
greater  in  Richmond,  proportionately  to  the 
burden  he  bore. 

One  or  two  of  the  generals  had  their  little 
cliques  who  sympathized  with  them.  Some 
disappointed  politicians  felt  that  they  had 
been  overlooked,  or  their  claims  disregarded. 
Some  thought  they  knew  that  their  names 
had  been  preferred  for  the  office  which  had 
been  conferred  upon  Mr.  Davis  ;  others  felt 
sure  that  everyone  except  the  President  had 
preferred  them  for  the  portfolios  unworthily 
held  by  others.  In  fact,  it  was  the  "  Spec 
tator's  "  allegory  of  the  man  who,  dissatis 
fied  with  his  short  face,  was  allowed  to  lay  it 
down,  and  yet  could  find  none  other  to  suit 
him.  To  these  malcontents,  always  non- 
combatants,  the  blighter's  hand  was  the  Presi 
dent's. 

Congressional  committees  made  earnest  and 
honest  recommendations  to  him  to  do  this  or 
that,  ignorant  of  what  had  transpired  since 
they  formulated  their  projects — which  were 
perhaps  well  conceived  when  formed,  but  had 
become  impracticable  from  the  change  of  cir 
cumstances  ;  a  politician  would  have  flattered 
and  appeared  to  confide  in  them  without  com 
municating  anything,  but  Mr.  Davis  was  too 
sincere  for  this  policy.  To  have  explained 


OPPOSITION   OF   CONGRESS.  163 

these  difficulties  would  often  have  exposed 
the  army  or  navy  to  danger ;  he  therefore 
had  to  take  refuge  in  silence ;  this  was  in 
terpreted  to  mean  contempt  or  a  stubborn 
desire  to  dictate  to  the  co-ordinate  branch  of 
government,  and  increased  the  discontent. 

He  was  abnormally  sensitive  to  disapproba 
tion  :  even  a  child's  disapproval  discomposed 
him.  He  felt  how  much  he  was  misunder 
stood,  and  the  sense  of  mortification  and  in 
justice  gave  him  a  repellent  manner.  It  was 
because  of  his  supersensitive  temperament  and 
the  acute  suffering  it  caused  him  to  be  mis 
understood,  I  had  deprecated  his  assuming 
the  civil  administration. 

He  was  always  inclined  to  sacrifice  himself 
rather  than  betray  the  trust  even  of  an  enemy. 
Once,  when  an  officer  he  loved  had  been 
censured  by  one  of  the  generals  in  a  letter 
marked  "  private,"  and  was  indicated  as  one 
whose  removal  was  required,  the  officer  re 
monstrated  warmly  with  the  President,  and, 
with  the  freedom  of  old  friendship,  said,  "  You 
know  me,  how  could  I  ever  hold  my  head 
up  under  implied  censure,  from  you,  my  old 
friend  ?  "  The  President,  who  could  not  ex 
plain  that  he  found  no  fault  in  him,  to  cover 
his  discomposure  said,  curtly,  "  You  have,  I 
believe,  received  your  orders  ;  I  can  suggest 
nothing  but  obedience/' 


164  JEFFERSON  DA  VIS. 

His  old  friend  left  him  wounded  to  the 
quick,  and  Mr.  Davis  came  home  and  went, 
without  eating,  to  his  room  and  slept  little.  As 
soon  as  he  could  speak  quietly  of  it,  he  said  : 
"  I  would  not  sec'retly  censure  a  man  and  ask 
another  to  take  the  responsibility,  but,  as  the 
letter  was  confidential,  all  I  could  do  was  to 
make  the  poor  fellow  too  mad  with  me  to  ask 
an  explanation."  So,  little  by  little  the  Con 
gress  became  alienated,  or  at  least  a  large 
portion  of  them  with  a  few  of  the  military 
men.  The  President  let  the  conviction  gnaw 
at  his  vitals  in  silence.  He  used  to  say  with 
a  sigh,  "  If  we  succeed,  we  shall  hear  nothing 
of  these  malcontents ;  if  we  do  not,  then  I 
shall  be  held  accountable  by  the  majority  of 
friends  as  well  as  foes.  I  will  do  my  best, 
and  God  will  give  me  strength  to  bear  what 
ever  comes  to  me." 


CHAPTER  XVI. 

BEAUREGARD'S    LETTER. 

THE  victory  at  Manassas  was  followed  by 
a  period  of  inactivity  and  of  fancied  security, 
so  sure  did  many  feel  that  this  battle  would 
end  the  war.  This  was  shown  by  the  de 
crease  of  enlistments ;  but  President  Davis 
did  not  coincide  with  this  view.  Foreign  rec 
ognition  was  looked  forward  to  as  an  assured 
fact,  and  the  politicians  began  at  once  to 
speculate  upon  the  future  recipients  of  the 
most  prominent  offices  in  the  new  Confeder 
acy. 

Mr.  Hunter,  of  Virginia,  about  this  time 
left  the  Cabinet,  in  order,  his  enemies  said, 
that  his  identification  with  the  Administra 
tion  should  not  damage  his  chances  as  Mr. 
Davis's  successor  to  the  Presidency.  Mr. 
Davis  was  attached  to  him  and  thought  he 
did  not  care  to  share  the  responsibility  of  a 
possible  failure. 

General  Beauregard  was  also  named  in 
some  quarters  as  the  next  Confederate  Presi 
dent,  the  popular  nominee  of  an  honor  to  be 
conferred  six  years  hence.  Before  the  puta- 


166  JEFFERSON  DAVIS. 

live  nomination  he  wrote  the  following  dis 
couraging  letter  to  the  Richmond  Whig. 

"  CENTREVILLE,  VA.  (Within  hearing  of  the  enemy's  guns.) 

November  3,  1861. 

"  To  the  Editors  of  the  Richmond  Whig. 

"  GENTLEMEN  :  My  attention  had  just  been 
called  to  an  unfortunate  controversy  now  go 
ing  on,  relative  to  the  publication  of  the  sy 
nopsis  of  my  report  of  the  battle  of  Manassas. 
None  can  regret  more  than  I  do  this  publica 
tion,  which  was  made  without  my  knowledge 
or  authority. 

"  The  President  is  the  sole  judge  of  when, 
and  what  parts  of,  the  reports  of  a  command 
ing  officer  should  be  made  public.  I,  indi 
vidually,  do  not  object  to  delaying  its  publi 
cation  as  long  as  the  War  Department  shall 
think  it  necessary  and  proper  for  the  success 
of  our  cause. 

"  Meanwhile  I  entreat  my  friends  not  to 
trouble  themselves  about  refuting  the  slan 
ders  and  calumnies  aimed  at  me.  Alcibiades, 
on  a  certain  occasion,  resorted  to  a  singular 
method  to  occupy  the  minds  of  his  traducers ; 
let,  then,  "  that  synopsis "  answer  the  same 
purpose  for  me  in  this  instance.  If  certain 
minds  cannot  understand  the  difference  be 
tween  patriotism,  the  highest  civic  virtue, 
and  office-seeking,  the  lowest  civic  occupa- 


BEAUREGARD^S  LETTER.  167 

tion,  I  pity  them  from  the  bottom  of  my 
heart.  Suffice  it  to  say  that  I  prefer  the  re 
spect  and  esteem  of  my  countrymen,  to  the 
admiration  and  envy  of  the  world.  I  hope, 
for  the  sake  of  our  cause  and  country,  to  be 
able,  with  the  assistance  of  a  kind  Providence, 
to  answer  my  calumniators  with  new  victor 
ies  over  our  national  enemies;  but  I  have 
nothing  to  ask  of  the  country,  the  govern- 
ment,  or  my  friends,  except  to  afford  me  all 
the  aid  they  can  in  the  great  struggle  we 
are  now  engaged  upon. 

"  I  am  not,  and  never  expect  or  desire  to  be, 
a  candidate  for  any  civic  office  in  the  gift  of 
the  people  or  the  Executive. 

"  The  acme  of  my  ambition  is,  after  having 
cast  my  mite  in  the  defence  of  our  sacred 
cause,  and  assisted  to  the  best  of  my  ability 
in  securing  our  rights  and  independence  as  a 
nation,  to  retire  into  private  life  (my  means 
then  permitting),  never  again  to  leave  my 
home,  unless  to  fight  anew  the  battles  of  my 
country. 

"  Respectfully,  your  most  obedient  servant, 
(Signed)         "  G.  T.  BEAUREGARD." 

"  A  true  copy, 

"S.W.  FERGUSON,  Aide-de-Camp" 

Prior  to  the  date  of  the  above  letter,  in 
which  General  Beauregard  entreats  his 


DAVIS, 

friends  "  not  to  trouble  themselves  about  re 
futing  the  slanders  and  calumnies  aimed  at 
him"  (in  consequence  of  the  publication  of 
the  synopsis  of  his  report  of  the  battle  of 
Manassas),  his  relations  with  the  Confederate 
officials,  "  except  Colonel  Northrop,  the  Com 
missary-General,"  "  had  been  those  of  un 
studied  friendship."  * 

Having  occasion  to  recommend  the  ap 
pointment  of  an  officer  as  Chief  of  Ordnance 
of  the  "First  Corps,"  in  the  place  of  Captain 
E.  P.  Alexander,  an  accomplished  officer  who 
had  been  transferred  to  General  Johnston,  he 
received  from  a  "  subordinate  "  t  in  the  War 
Department  the  brief  reply  that  "  the  Presi 
dent  did  not  approve  the  division  of  the  ar 
my  into  two  corps,  and  preferred  that  there 
should  be  but  one  chief  of  ordnance  to  the  ar 
my  of  the  Potomac."  At  this  General  Beau- 
regard  took  umbrage,  esteeming  himself  a 
better  judge  of  such  matters  than  the  Presi 
dent.  This  circumstance  led  to  an  estrange 
ment  between  General  Beauregard  and  the 
authorities  at  Richmond,  which  apparently 
widened  as  the  war  progressed. 

The  widely  published  synopsis  of  General 
Beauregard's  report  of  the  battle  of  Man- 


*  Military  Operations  of  General  Beauregard,  page  157. 
f  Colonel  Alfred  T.  Bledsoe,  Assistant  Secretary  of  War. 


JBEAUREGARD^S  LETTER.  169 

assas,  wherein  it  was  stated  that  the  rejec 
tion  of  his  so-called  plan  of  campaign,  ver 
bally  presented  by  Colonel  Chesnut  to  the 
President,  in  the  presence  of  Generals  Lee 
and  Cooper,  prevented  the  Federal  army 
from  being  destroyed  before  July  2ist. 
The  President  addressed  a  letter  to  those 
officers,  asking  them  to  give  him  their  opin 
ions  and  recollections  of  the  interview  in 
question. 

The  letter  is  dated  November  4th,  the  day 
after  the  publication  of  General  Beauregard's 
letter,  written  "  within  hearing  of  the  enemy  s 
guns!'  The  reply  of  General  R.  '  E.  Lee 
should  render  any  further  discussion  of  the 
vexed  and  profitless  question  unnecessary. 


"RICHMOND,  VA.,  November  4,   1861. 

"  GENERALS   COOPER  AND   LEE,   Confederate 

States  Army. 

"  GENTLEMEN  :  The  injurious  effect  pro 
duced  by  statements  widely  published  to 
show  that  the  army  of  the  Potomac  had  been 
needlessly  doomed  to  inactivity  by  my  rejec 
tion  of  plans  for  vigorous  movements  against 
the  enemy,  which  were  presented  to  me  by 
General  Beauregard,  induces  me  to  ask  you 
to  state  what  was  the  communication  made 
by  that  officer,  through  the  Honorable  Mr. 


1 7o  JEFFERSON  DAVIS. 

Chesnut,  on  the  subject  of  his  position  at 
Manassas  in  July  last,  and  what  were  the 
propositions  and  requests  then  conveyed  to 
me. 

"  You  are  invited  to  refer  to  the  introduc 
tion  of  General  Beauregard's  report  of  the 
battle  of  Manassas,  that  you  may  see  how  far 
the  statement  made  therein  agrees  with  the 
communication  made  to  me  by  the  Honor 
able  Mr.  Chesnut,  in  the  interview  at  which 
you  were  present. 

"  I  have  requested  General  Beauregard  to 
furnish  me  with  a  plan  of  battle  and  campaign, 
which  he  says  in  his  report  was  submitted  to 
me,  but  have  not  received  an  answer. 

"  Very  respectfully  yours,  etc., 

"  JEFFERSON  DAVIS." 

11  COOSAWHATCHIE,   S.   C.,  November  24,  1861. 

"  His    EXCELLENCY,    The    President   of    the 

Confederate  States : 

"  My  absence  on  an  examination  of  the 
coast  of  South  Carolina  and  Georgia  has  pre 
vented  until  now  my  reply  to  your  note  of  the 
4th  instant,  asking  what  communication  was 
made  by  General  Beauregard  to  you  through 
the  Honorable  Mr.  Chesnut,  on  the  subject 
of  his  position  at  Manassas  in  July  last,  and 
what  were  the  propositions  and  requests  con 
veyed  by  him. 


BEAUREGARD^S  LETTER.  171 

"  I  have  not  seen  the  report  of  General 
Beauregard  of  the  battle  of  Manassas,  and  am 
unable  to  refer  to  his  introductory  statement 
to  which  you  call  my  attention.  I  cannot 
therefore  say  how  far  it  agrees  with  the  com 
munication  of  Mr.  Chesnut.  I  recollect, 
however,  that  at  the  interview  at  which  I  was 
present  Mr.  Chesnut  urged,  on  the  part  of 
General  Beauregard,  the  importance  of  rein 
forcing  the  army  of  the  Potomac  to  enable  it 
to  oppose  the  Federal  forces  accumulating  in 
its  front.  As  a  means  of  accomplishing  this 
end,  he  suggested  that  a  portion  of  the  army 
in  the  Shenandoah  Valley,  under  General 
Johnston,  be  ordered  to  join  it.  With  the 
aid  thus  afforded,  General  Beauregard  thought 
he  could  successfully  resist  an  attack  of  the 
enemy.  Should  he  succeed  in  repulsing  him, 
he  could  in  turn  reinforce  General  Johnston. 
Should  General  Johnston  succeed  in  driving 
back  General  Patterson,  then  in  his  front,  he 
could  reinforce  the  army  in  Northwestern 
Virginia.  The  advantages  of  the  union  of 
the  armies  on  the  Potomac  had  been  more 
than  once  the  subject  of  consideration  by  you, 
and  I  do  not  recollect  that  at  the  interview  in 
question  they  were  less  apparent.  The  diffi 
culty  of  timing  the  march  of  the  troops  so  as 
to  benefit  one  army  without  jeopardizing  the 
object  of  the  other,  was  therefore  mainly  con- 


1 72  JEFFERSON  DA  VIS. 

sidered,  and  you  decided  that  the  movements 
of  the  enemy  in  and  about  Alexandria  were 
not  sufficiently  demonstrative  as  to  warrant 
the  withdrawal  of  any  of  the  forces  from  the 
Shenandoah  Valley.  A  few  days  afterward, 
however,  I  think  three  or  four,  the  reports 
from  General  Beauregard  showed  so  clearly 
the  enemy's  purpose,  that  you  ordered  Gen 
eral  Johnston  with  his  effective  force  to  march 
at  once  to  the  support  of  General  Beauregard, 
and  directed  General  Holmes,  with  such 
troops  as  could  be  spared  from  the  defence 
of  the  approaches  of  Fredericksburg  to  move 
upon  Manassas. 

"  The  successful  combination  of  the  armies 
was  made,  and  the  glorious  victory  of  July 
2  ist  followed. 

"  I  have  the  honor,  etc., 

"R.  E.  LEE." 

About  this  time  a  controversy  arose  be 
tween  General  Beauregard  and  the  Secretary 
of  War,  Mr.  Benjamin,  caused  by  the  organi 
zation  of  a  rocket  battery  for  the  Army  of  the 
Potomac.  Mr.  Davis  wrote  as  follows  : 

"  RICHMOND,  VA.,  October  25,  1861. 

"  GENERAL  BEAUREGARD,  Manassas,  Va. 

"  MY  DEAR  GENERAL  :  Your  letters  of  Oc 
tober  2Oth  and  2ist  have  just  been  referred 


BEAVREGARD'S  LETTER.  173 

to  me,  and  I  hasten  to  reply  without  consult 
ing  the  Secretary  of  War.  This  enables  me 
to  say,  without  connecting  his  expressions  of 
feeling  with  the  present  case,  that  you  have 
alike  his  admiration  and  high  personal  regard, 
evinced  by  so  many  signs  that  it  cannot  be 
to  me  a  matter  of  doubt.  As  the  essence  of 
offence  is  the  motive  with  which  words  are 
spoken,  I  have  thus,  it  is  hoped,  removed  the 
gravest  part  of  the  transaction. 

"  You  were  unquestionably  wrong  in  the 
order  to  recruit  a  company  for  the  Provisional 
Army.  The  Congress,  with  jealous  care,  re 
served  to  men  of  such  companies  the  power 
of  selecting  their  own  officers.  The  Execu 
tive  could  not  recruit  a  company  except  for 
the  regular  army,  and  as  provided  by  law ; 
to  that  extent  he  could  delegate  his  power 
to  Generals  in  the  field,  but  he  could  not 
do  more.  I  presume  the  objection  was  not, 
that  it  was  to  be  a  rocket  battery,  but  was 
to  the  recruiting  of  a  company  for  special 
service,  the  commander  having  been  selected 
not  by  the  men  but  by  the  Confederate  au 
thority. 

"  More  than  half  of  the  controversies  be 
tween  men  arise  from  difference  of  education 
and  habits  of  thought.  The  letter  in  relation 
to  the  law  of  organization  was  written  like  a 
lawyer,  and  had  it  been  addressed  to  one 


174  JEFFERSON  DAVIS. 

of  that  profession  would  not  probably  have 
wounded  his  sensibilities,  except  in  so  far  as 
to  provoke  debate  upon  the  accuracy  of  his 
position ;  but  it  was  addressed  to  a  soldier, 
sensitive  as  to  the  propriety  of  his  motive,  and 
careless  about  the  point  which  I  am  sure  the 
Secretary  intended  alone  to  present — inatten 
tion  to,  or  misconstruction  of  the  laws  govern 
ing  the  case._  He  desired  that  your  position 
should  be  entirely  satisfactory  to  you,  and 
that  the  freest  scope  should  be  given  for  the 
exercise  of  your  genius  and  gallantry  in  the 
further  maintenance  of  the  cause,  which  amid 
the  smoke  and  blaze  of  battle,  you  have  three 
times  illustrated.  Prompted  by  that  desire, 
he  anticipated  my  purpose,  which  had  been 
communicated  to  him,  to  placfe  you  in  the 
immediate  command  of  the  Army  of  the  Po 
tomac,  by  referring  to  an  order  which  would 
soon  be  issued,  and  which  he  hoped  would 
be  satisfactory  to  you. 

"  Now,  my  dear  sir,  let  me  entreat  you  to 
dismiss  this  small  matter  from  your  mind ;  in 
the  hostile  masses  before  you,  you  have  a 
subject  more  worthy  of  your  contemplation. 
The  country  needs  all  your  mind  and  your 
heart ;  you  have  given  cause  to  expect  all 
which  man  can  do,  and  your  fame  and  her 
interests  require  that  your  energies  should 
have  a  single  object.  My  prayers  always 


BEAUREGARD'S  LETTER.  175 

attend   you,  and   with   confidence    I  turn  to 
you  in  the  hour  of  peril. 

"  Very  truly  your  friend, 
(Signed)  "  JEFFERSON  DAVIS." 

"P.S. — The  Secretary  has  not  seen  your 
letter,  and  I  will  not  inform  him  as  to  the 
correspondence. 

"J.  D." 

The  Secretary,  writing  upon  this  subject  to 
General  Beauregard,  expressed  his  "no  small 
surprise  "  that  he  should  have  committed  an 
act  "  without  warrant  of  law,"  and  excused  him 
only  on  account  of  his  motives  and  his  defect 
of  judgment.  This  letter  of  Mr.  Benjamin 
"  staggered "  General  Beauregard,  and  he, 
overlooking  Mr.  Benjamin,  referred  the  letter 
to  the  President.  The  President  replied  to 
the  General,  under  date  of  November  10, 
1 86 1,  and  below  his  letter  is  given  entire: 

"  RICHMOND,  VA.,  November  10,  1861. 

"  GENERAL  BEAUREGARD,  Manassas,  Va. 

"  SIR  :  When  I  addressed  you  in  relation 
to  your  complaint  because  of  the  letters  writ 
ten  to  you  by  Mr.  Benjamin,  Acting  Secretary 
of  War,  it  was  hoped  that  you  would  see  that 
you  had  misinterpreted  his  expressions,  and 
would  be  content.  But  while  in  yours  of  the 


1 76  JEFFERSON  DA  VIS. 

6th  instant  you  accept  the  assurance  given 
that  Mr.  Benjamin  could  not  have  intended 
to  give  you  offence,  you  serve  notice  that 
your  '  motives  must  not  be  called  into  ques 
tion/  and  that  when  your  '  errors  are  pointed 
out  it  must  be  done  in  proper  tone  and  style,' 
and  express  the  fear  that  Mr.  Benjamin  '  will, 
under  all  circumstances,  view  only  the  legal 
aspect  of  things,  and  that  insensibly  this 
army  and  myself  (yourself)  will  be  put  into 
the  straight-jackets  of  the  law/  etc.  I  do 
not  feel  competent  to  instruct  Mr.  Benjamin 
in  the  matter  of  style.  There  are  few  whom 
the  public  would  probably  believe  fit  for  that 
task.  But  the  other  point  quoted  from  your 
letter  presents  matter  for  graver  considera 
tions,  and  it  is  that  which  induces  me  to 
reply.  It  cannot  be  peculiar  to  Mr.  Ben 
jamin  to  look  at  every  exercise  of  official 
power  in  its  legal  aspects,  and  you  surely  did 
not  intend  to  inform  me  that  your  army  and 
yourself  are  outside  of  the  limits  of  the  law. 

"  It  i§  my  duty  to  see  that  the  laws  are 
faithfully  executed,  and  I  cannot  recognize 
the  pretension  of  anyone  that  their  restraint 
is  too  narrow  for  him. 

"  The  Congress  carefully  reserved  to  all 
volunteers  the  selection  of  their  company 
officers,  and  provided  various  modes  for  re 
cruiting  them  into  service  as  organized 


BEAUREGARD'S  LETTER.  177 

bodies.     When  you   disregarded  that  right, 
and  the  case  was  brought  to  the  notice  of  the 
Secretary  of  War,  it  could  but  create  sur 
prise  ;    and   the    most  mild   and  considerate 
course  which  could  have  been  adopted  was 
to  check  further  progress  under  your  order 
and  inform  you  of  the  errors  committed. 
"  Very  respectfully  yours,  etc., 
(Signed)  "  JEFFERSON  DAVIS." 

The  President  was  in  this  instance,  as  in 
every  other,  watching  over  the  strict  con 
struction  of  the  laws  and  the  individual  rights 
of  the  people  of  each  State.  He  looked  with 
anxious  care  to  the  elective  rights  of  the  men 
in  the  army,  and  it  is  very  apparent  by  his 
first  letter  how  anxious  he  was  to  conciliate 
General  Beauregard  and  while  impressing  re 
strictions  upon  him,  to  avoid  giving  him  pain. 
The  first  letter  shows  his  animus,  the  second 
vindicates  the  law  and  protects  the  dignity  of 
the  Secretary  of  War. 
VOL.  II. —12 


CHAPTER   XVII. 

ROANOKE   ISLAND.— MR.   DAVIS'S   INAUGURATION. 

THE  year  1862  was  destined  to  be  a  noted 
one  in  the  annals  of  the  country,  and  the  mil 
itary  campaigns  in  the  Confederate  States 
opened  early,  to  end  only  with  the  expiration 
of  the  year. 

Early  in  the  year,  Mr.  Walker  having  re 
signed  his  portfolio,  a  general  reorganization 
of  the  cabinet  was  arranged,  and,  on  March 
1 7th,  the  Senate  made  the  following  confirma 
tions  : 

Secretary  of  State — J.  P.  BENJAMIN. 
Treasury — C.  G.  MEMMINGER. 
Secretary  of  War — J.  P.  BENJAMIN. 
Secretary  of  Navy — S.  R.  MALLORY. 
Postmaster- General — J.  H.  REAGAN. 
Attorney- General — THOMAS  H.  WATTS. 
The  dissolution   of  his  cabinet    disquieted 
the  President  greatly,  and  about  this  time  the 
organized  opposition  party  began  to  be  felt. 
The  enemy  also  manifested  unusual  activity. 
Their  first  move  was  the  capture  of  Roan- 
oke  Island,  on  the  low  coast-line    of  North 
Carolina,  for  it  was  an  important  outpost  of 


ROANOKE  ISLAND.  179 

the  Confederates.  Its  possession  by  the 
enemy  would  give  them  access  to  the  country 
from  which  Norfolk  drew  its  supplies. 

On  January  22,  1862,  General  Henry  A. 
Wise  was  placed  in  command. 

The  defence  of  this  island  consisted  of  six 
land  batteries,  and  after  manning  the  guns 
there  were  not  one  thousand  effective  men  for 
duty.  Seven  gunboats  were  in  the  Sound  to 
aid  in  its  defence. 

On  February  8th  General  Burnside  at 
tacked  the  defences  of  the  island,  and  with 
overwhelming  numbers  outflanked  them,  and 
captured  almost  the  entire  force. 

In  this  action  Captain  O.  Jennings  Wise,  of 
the  Richmond  Blues,  was  killed.  When  he 
fell  on  the  field,  with  a  mortal  wound,  one  of 
his  men  inquired  if  he  was  much  hurt.  His  an 
swer  was,  "  Never  mind  me  ;  fight  on,  men, 
fight  on,  and  keep  cool/'  As  he  was  being 
borne  from  the  field  a  random  shot  struck 
and  killed  him.  Nothing  could  have  been 
more  pathetic  than  the  moan  of  his  old  father, 
"  Oh,  my  brave  boy,  you  have  died  for  me ; 
you  have  died  for  me." 


CHAPTER     XVIII. 

THE   INAUGURATION. 

THE  Provisional  Government  had  expired. 
The  beginning  of  the  new  term  of  the  Exec 
utive  and  the  opening  of  the  newly  elected 
Congress  drew  nigh. 

A  contemporary  account  of  the  inaugural 
ceremonies  is  quoted,  as  it  is,  perhaps,  a  better 
description  than  could  now  be  given.  The  sky 
lowered  until  10  o'clock,  and  then  a  hard  rain 
poured  steadily  down  for  four  hours,  and  Mr. 
Davis  came  in  from  an  early  visit  to  his  office 
and  went  into  his  room,  where  I  found  him, 
an  hour  afterward  on  his  knees  in  earnest 
prayer  "  for  the  divine  support  I  need  so 
sorely." 

"RICHMOND,  February  22,  1862. 

"  The  inauguration  took  place  at  12  o'clock 
to-day,  in  accordance  with  the  published  pro 
gramme.  The  two  houses,  of  Congress  met 
in  their  respective  halls  at  11.30  o'clock,  and 
soon  thereafter  repaired  to  the  hall  of  the 
House  of  Representatives  of  Virginia.  The 
President  and  Vice-President-elect  were  con 
ducted  to  the  hall  by  the  Joint  Committee  of 


THE  INAUGURATION.  181 

Arrangements,  the  President  arriving  a  few 
minutes  after  12  o'clock,  and  were  received 
by  the  assembly  standing.  The  Honorable 
R.  M.  T.  Hunter,  of  Virginia,  the  President 
of  the  Senate,  occupied  the  seat  on  the  right 
of  the  President-elect ;  the  Vice-President 
elect  that  of  the  left  on  the  President,  and  the 
Speaker  of  the  House  that  on  the  left  of  the 
Vice-President. 

"  Invitations  to  the  hall,  and  to  join  in  the 
procession  from  thence  to  the  bronze  eques 
trian  statue  of  Washington,  at  the  foot  of 
which  the  inaugural  ceremony  would  take 
place,  had  been  extended  to  members  of  the 
cabinet ;  the  Governor  of  Virginia  and  his 
staff;  the  Governors  of  any  other  of  the  Con 
federate  States  who  might  be  in  Richmond, 
and  ex-Governor  Lowe,  of  Maryland ;  the 
Senate  and  the  House  of  Delegates  of  Vir 
ginia,  and  their  respective  officers  ;  the  Judges 
of  the  Supreme  Court,  and  of  any  of  the  Con 
federate  District  Court  at  Richmond ;  the 
members  of  the  late  Provincial  Congress  ;  the 
officers  of  the  army  and  navy  who  might  be 
in  the  city  ;  the  members  of  the  Press  ;  the 
mayor  and  the  corporate  authorities  of  the 
city  ;  the  reverend  clergy  and  masonic  and 
other  benevolent  societies. 

"  These  assembled,  at  the  hour  indicated, 
and  the  procession,  accompanied  by  an  im- 


1 82  JEFFERSON  DAVIS. 

mense  crowd,  moved  from  the  hall  by  the 
eastern  door  of  the  Capitol  to  the  statue  of 
Washington  on  the  public  square. 

"  A  temporary  platform  and  awning  had 
been  erected  at  the  monument,  which  is  a 
bronze  equestrian  statue  of  great  size,  sur 
rounded  by  statues  of  Jefferson,  Henry,  and 
Mason.  It  was  fortunate  that  an  awning  had 
been  provided,  since  it  commenced  to  rain 
early  in  the  day,  and  has  not  yet  stopped. 
An  immense  crowd  had  assembled  around 
the  monument,  and  bravely  stood  it  out  to  the 
last,  notwithstanding  the  rain.* 

"  The  President  and  Vice-President  were 
received  with  hearty  and  prolonged  cheers. 
Upon  the  restoration  of  order  an  eloquent 
prayer  was  offered  up  by  the  Right  Reverend 
Bishop  Johns. 

"  The  President-elect  then  delivered  his 
inaugural  address.  It  was  characterized  by 
great  dignity,  united  with  much  feeling  and 
grace,  especially  the  closing  sentence. 
Throwing  up  his  eyes  and  hands  to  heaven 
he  said,  '  With  humble  gratitude  and  adora 
tion,  acknowledging  the  Providence  which 
has  so  visibly  protected  the  Confederacy 
during  its  brief,  but  eventful  career,  to  Thee, 

*  It  was  a  panorama  of  umbrellas,  and  a  wag  who  took  the  census 
of  them  found  there  were  twelve  blacks  to  one  brown,  eight  blacks 
to  one  green,  and  the  blues  hid  their  diminished  heads. 


THE  INAUGURATION.  183 

O  God,  I  trustingly  commit  myself,  and  pray 
erfully  invoke  Thy  blessing  on  my  country  and 
its  cause.' '  Thus  Mr.  Davis  entered  on  his 
martyrdom.  As  he  stood  pale  and  emaciated, 
dedicating  himself  to  the  service  of  the  Con 
federacy,  evidently  forgetful  of  everything  but 
his  sacred  oath,  he  seemed  to  me  a  willing 
victim  going  to  his  funeral  pyre,  and  the  idea 
so  affected  me  that  making  some  excuse  I  re 
gained  my  carriage  and  went  home. 

"  The  oath  to  support  the  Constitution  of 
the  Confederate  States  was  then  administered 
by  Judge  Haliburton,  of  the  Confederate 
District  Court  for  this  District,  a  nephew  of 
Mrs.  Washington.  Mr.  Hunter,  President  of 
the  Senate,  proclaimed  Jefferson  Davis  to  be 
President  of  the  Confederate  States  of  Amer 
ica  for  the  term  of  six  years  from  this  day. 
The  announcement  was  received  with  im 
mense  cheering. 

"  Mr.  Hunter  next  administered  the  oath  to 
the  Vice-President,  and  then  made  proclama 
tion  that  Alexander  H.  Stephens  was  the 
Vice-Presidentofthe  Confederate  States  fora 
similar  term  of  six  years.  This  announcement 
was  made  amid  great  applause.  There  was  an 
effort  to  induce  Mr.  Stephens  to  say  some 
thing  ;  but  as  such  a  thing  was  not  expected, 
or  perhaps  proper,  he  simply  made  a  profound 
bow  to  the  audience  and  returned  to  his  seat. 


CHAPTER    XIX. 

EFFORT  TO  EFFECT  EXCHANGE  OF  PRISONERS- 
EVACUATION  OF  MANASSAS— VISIT  TO  FREDER- 
ICKSBURG.- 

ABOUT  the  end  of  January,  1862,  the  Con 
federate  Government  endeavored  to  procure 
the  exchange  of  prisoners  taken  by  the  ar 
mies  of  the  belligerents,  and  an  officer  was  sent 
by  General  Johnston  to  General  McClellan. 

The  proposition  was  not  entertained  by 
the  Federal  Government,  and  our  efforts  to 
shorten  the  imprisonment  of  the  captives  in 
our  hands  met  no  encouragement  from  their 
own  friends. 

Thus  early  in  the  war  the  Confederate  Gov 
ernment  displayed  its  desire  to  secure  a  free 
exchange  of  prisoners,  which,  had  it  been 
carried  out  in  good  faith  by  the  Federals, 
would  have  saved  from  unavoidable  suffering 
and  death,  thousands  of  both  armies. 

In  view  of  the  near  approach  of  the  spring 
campaign,  President  Davis  issued  the  follow 
ing  proclamation  : 

"  By  virtue  of  the  power  vested  in  me  by 
law,  to  declare  the  suspension  of  the  privilege 


EVACUATION  OF  M AMASS  AS.  185 

of  the  writ  of  habeas  corpus  in  cities  threat 
ened  with  invasion  ; 

"I,  Jefferson  Davis,  President  of  the  Con 
federate  States  of  America,  do  proclaim  that 
martial  law  is  hereby  extended  over  the  city 
of  Richmond  and  the  adjoining-  country  to  the 
distance  of  ten  miles.  And  I  do  proclaim  the 
suspension  of  all  civil  jurisdiction  with  the  ex 
ception  of  the  Mayor  of  the  city,  and  the  sus 
pension  of  the  privilege  of  the  writ  of  habeas 
corpus  within  the  said  city  and  surrounding 
country  to  the  distance  aforesaid. 

"  In  faith  whereof  I  have  hereunto  signed 
my  name  and  set  my  seal,  at  the  city  of  Rich 
mond,  on  the  first  day  of  March,  in  the  year 
one  thousand  eight  hundred  and  sixty-two. 
(Seal.)  "  JEFFERSON  DAVIS." 

On  February  2d  General  Beauregard  took 
leave  of  the  Army  of  the  Potomac,  having  been 
transferred  to  the  army  in  West  Tennessee, 
commanded  by  Albert  Sidney  Johnston. 

The  Federal  forces  then  organizing  in  front 
of  Washington,  under  General  George  B. 
McClellan,  and  estimated  to  number  one 
hundred  thousand  men,  gave  indication  of  ac 
tive  operations.  General  Johnston,  in  a  per 
sonal  interview  in  Richmond,  gave  notice  that 
he  considered  his  position  as  unsafe,  and  a 
withdrawal  of  the  army  from  Centreville  was 


1 86  JEFFERSON  DAVIS. 

necessary  before  McClellan's  invasion ;  the 
latter  accordingly  addressed  to  him  the  fol 
lowing  letter  : 

"  RICHMOND,  VA.,  February  28,  1862. 

"  GENERAL  J.  E.  JOHNSTON  :  Your  opinion 
that  your  position  may  be  turned  whenever 
the  enemy  chooses  to  advance,  and  that  he 
will  be  ready  to  take  the  field  before  yourself, 
clearly  indicates  prompt  effort  to  disencumber 
yourself  of  everything  which  would  interfere 
with  your  rapid  movement  when  necessary, 
and  such  thorough  examination  of  the  country 
in  your  rear  as  would  give  you  exact  knowl 
edge  of  its  roads  and  general  topography,  and 
enable  you  to  select  a  line  of  greater  natural 
advantages  than  that  now  occupied  by  your 
forces. 

"  The  heavy  guns  at  Manassas  and  Evans- 
port,  needed  elsewhere,  and  reported  to  be 
useless  in  their  present  position,  would  neces 
sarily  be  abandoned  in  a  hasty  retreat.  I  re 
gret  that  you  find  it  impossible  to  move  them. 

"  The  subsistence  stores  should,  when  re 
moved,  be  placed  in  positions  to  answer 
your  future  wants.  Those  cannot  be  deter 
mined  until  you  have  furnished  definite  infor 
mation  as  to  your  plans,  especially  the  line  to 
which  you  would  remove  in  the  contingency 
of  retiring.  The  Commissary-General  had 
previously  stopped  further  shipments  to  your 


EVACUATION  OF  MANASSAS.  187 

army,  and  given  satisfactory  reasons  for  the 
establishment  at  Thoroughfare.*     .     .     ." 

"  I  need  not  urge  on  your  consideration 
the  value  to  our  country  of  arms  and  muni 
tions  of  war;  you  know  the  difficulty  with 
which  we  have  obtained  our  small  supply  ; 
that  to  furnish  heavy  artillery  to  the  advanced 
posts  we  have  exhausted  the  supplies  here 
which  were  designed  for  the  armament  of  the 
city  defences.  Whatever  can  be,  should  be 
done  to  avoid  the  loss  of  these  guns. 

"  As  has  been  my  custom,  I  have  only 
sought  to  present  general  purposes  and  views. 
I  rely  upon  your  special  knowledge  and  high 
ability  to  effect  whatever  is  practicable  in  this 
our  hour  of  need.  Recent  disasters  have  de 
pressed  the  weak,  and  are  depriving  us  of  the 
aid  of  the  wavering.  Traitors  show  the  ten 
dencies  heretofore  concealed,  and  the  selfish 
grow  clamorous  for  local  and  personal  inter 
ests.  At  such  an  hour  the  wisdom  of  the 
trained  and  the  steadiness  of  the  brave  pos 
sess  a  double  value.  The  military  paradox 
that  impossibilities  must  be  rendered  possible, 
had  never  better  occasion  for  its  application. 

"  The  engineers  for  whom  you  asked  have 
been  ordered  to  report  to  you,  and  further 
additions  will  be  made  to  your  list  of  briga- 

*  Thoroughfare    Gap  was  the    point  at  which   the  Commissary- 
General  had  placed  a  meat-packing  establishment. 


l$8  JEFFERSON  DAVIS. 

dier-generals.     Let  me  hear  from  you  often 
and  fully. 

"  Very  truly  and  respectfully  yours, 

"  JEFFERSON  DAVIS." 

The  President  again  wrote  as  follows  : 

"RICHMOND,  VA.,  March 6,  1862. 

"  GENERAL].  E.  JOHNSTON  :  Notwithstand 
ing  the  threatening  position  of  the  enemy,  I  in 
fer  from  your  account  of  the  roads  and  streams 
that  his  active  operations  must  be  for  some 
time  delayed,  and  thus  I  am  permitted  to  hope 
that  you  will  be  able  to  mobilize  your  army 
by  the  removal  of  your  heavy  ordnance  and 
such  stores  as  are  not  required  for  active  oper 
ations,  so  that,  whenever  you  are  required  to 
move,  it  may  be  without  public  loss  and  with 
out  impediment  to  celerity.  I  was  fully  im 
pressed  with  the  difficulties  which  you  pre 
sented  when  discussing  the  subject  of  a  change 
of  position.  To  preserve  the  efficiency  of 
your  army,  you  will,  of  course,  avoid  all  need 
less  exposure  ;  and,  when  your  army  has  been 
relieved  of  all  useless  encumbrance,  you  can 
have  no  occasion  to  move  it  while  the  roads 
and  weather  are  such  as  would  involve  serious 
suffering,  because  the  same  reasons  must  re 
strain  the  operations  of  the  enemy.  .  .  . 
"  Very  respectfully  yours, 

"  JEFFERSON  DAVIS," 


EVACUATION  OF  MAN  ASS  AS.  189 

General  Johnston  began  his  retreat  on 
March  7th,  but  such  was  the  confusion  incident 
upon  moving  the  troops  out  of  their  winter 
quarters,  that  it  was  not  until  the  evening  of 
the  Qth  that  order  was  restored  to  the  re 
treating  column.  The  troops  moved  out  on 
the  8th,  passed  the  succeeding  twenty-four 
hours  on  the  roadside,  and  suffered  much  from 
the  inclement  weather  and  excessive  cold. 

The  retreat  continued  to  the  south  bank 
of  the  Rappahannock,  where  a  halt  was  called, 
and  the  troops  encamped. 

In  the  undue  haste  to  retire  from  the  front 
of  McClellan,  who  did  not  follow,  nor  even  in 
terfere  with  General  Johnston's  rear-guard, 
stores,  arms,  clothing,  etc.,  were  abandoned 
and  burned,  notwithstanding  the  urgent  warn 
ing  of  Mr.  Davis  in  his  letters  of  February 
28th  and  of  March  6th. 

General  Early,  in  stating  the  amount  of  un 
necessary  loss  at  Manassas,  wrote  as  follows  : 

"  A  very  large  amount  of  stores  and  pro 
visions  had  been  abandoned  for  want  of  trans 
portation,  and  among  the  stores  was  a  very 
large  quantity  of  clothing,  blankets,  etc.,  which 
had  been  provided  by  the  States  south  of 
Virginia  for  their  own  troops.  The  pile  of 
trunks  along  the  railroad  was  appalling  to  be 
hold.  All  these  stores,  clothing,  trunks,  etc., 
were  consigned  to  the  flames  by  a  portion  of 


1 9o  JEFFERSON  DAVIS. 

our  cavalry  left  to  carry  out  the  work  of  their 
destruction.  The  loss  of  stores  at  this  point, 
and  at  White  Plains,  on  the  Manassas  Gap 
Railroad,  where  a  large  amount  of  meat  had 
been  salted  and  stored,  was  a  very  serious 
one  to  us,  and  embarrassed  us  for  the  remain 
der  of  the  war,  as  it  put  us  at  once  on  a  run 
ning  stock." 

The  same  officer  subsequently  wrote,  in 
regard  to  the  loss  of  supplies  : 

"  I  believe  that  all  might  have  been  car 
ried  off  from  Manassas  if  the  railroads  had 
been  energetically  operated." 

On  March  loth  the  President,  not  then 
informed  of  General  Johnston's  retrograde 
movement,  telegraphed  him  as  follows : 

"  Further  assurances  given  me  this  day  that 
you  shall  be  promptly  reinforced,  so  as  to 
enable  you  to  maintain  your  position  and  re 
sume  first  policy  when  the  roads  will  permit." 
The  first  policy  was  to  carry  the  war  beyond 
our  own  border. 

On  March  I5th  the  President  received  no 
tice  that  the  army  was  in  retreat,  and  replied  : 

"RICHMOND,  VA.,  March  15,  1862. 

"  GENERAL  J.  E.  JOHNSTON, 

"  Headquarters  Army  of  the  Potomac. 
"  GENERAL  :  I  have  received  your  letter  of 
the  1 3th  instant,  giving  the  first  official  ac- 


EVACUATION  OF  MAN  ASS  AS.  191 

count  I  have  received  of  the  retrograde  move 
ment  of  your  army. 

"  Your  letter  would  lead  me  to  infer  that 
others  had  been  sent  to  apprise  me  of  your 
plans  and  movements.  If  so,  they  have  not 
reached  me  ;  and  before  the  receipt  of  yours 
of  the  1 3th  I  was  as  much  in  the  dark  as  to 
your  purposes,  condition,  and  necessities,  as 
at  the  time  of  our  conversation  on  the  subject 
about  a  month  since. 

"  It  is  true  I  have  had  many  and  alarming 
reports  of  great  destruction  of  ammunition, 
camp  equipage,  and  provisions,  indicating 
precipitate  retreat ;  but  having  heard  of  no 
cause  for  such  a  sudden  movement  I  was  at 
a  loss  to  believe  it. 

"  I  have  not  the  requisite  topographical 
knowledge  for  the  selection  of  your  position. 
I  had  intended  that  you  should  determine 
that  question  ;  and  for  this  purpose  a  corps 
of  engineers  was  furnished  to  make  a  careful 
examination  of  the  country  to  aid  you  in  your 
decision. 

u  The    question    of  throwing   troops    into 
Richmond  is  contingent  upon  reverses  in  the 
West  and  Southeast.     The  immediate  neces 
sity  for  such  a  movement  is  not  anticipated. 
"  Very  respectfully  yours, 

"  JEFFERSON  DAVIS." 


192  JEFFERSON  DAVIS. 

On  the  same  day  the  President  sent  the 
following  telegram : 

"  RICHMOND,  VA.,  March  15,   1862. 

"  GENERAL  J.  E.  JOHNSTON, 

"  Culpepper  Court-House,  Va. 
"  Your  letter  of  the  I3th  received  this  day, 
being  the  first  information  of  your  retrograde 
movement.  I  have  no  report  of  your  recon 
naissance,  and  can  suggest  nothing  as  to  the 
position  you  should  take,  except  it  should  be  as 
far  in  advance  as  consistent  with  your  safety. 

"  JEFFERSON  DAVIS." 

The  President  immediately  went  to  Gen 
eral  Johnston's  headquarters,  and  found  him 
on  the  south  bank  of  the  Rappahannock 
River,  to  which  he  had  retired,  in  a  position 
possessing  great  natural  advantages. 

Upon  inquiring  whether  the  south  bank  of 
the  river  continued  to  command  the  other  side 
down  to  Fredericksburg,  General  Johnston 
replied  he  did  not  know,  that  he  had  not 
been  there  for  many  years. 

The  President  and  General  Johnston  pro 
ceeded  to  Fredericksburg,  and  a  reconnais 
sance  soon  manifested  that  the  hills  on  the 
opposite  bank  commanded  the  town,  and 
therefore  Fredericksburg  could  only  be  de 
fended  by  an  army  occupying  the  opposite 


EVACUATION   OF  M  A. V  ASS  AS.  193 

hills,  for  which  the  Confederate  force  was  in 
adequate. 

While  in  Fredericksburg  the  President 
and  General  Johnston  were  the  guests  of  J. 
Temple  Doswell,  and  at  his  house  met 
a  large  number  of  ladies  and  gentlemen, 
among  whom  were  the  Honorable  W.  S. 
Barton,  R.  W.  Adams,  F.  T.  Forbes,  J.  L. 
Marye,  and  the  venerable  T.  B.  Barton.  In 
answer  to  the  question  as  to  the  result  of  the 
reconnaissance,  the  President  replied  to  Mr. 
Doswell,  during  their  ride,  that  Fredericks- 
burg  was  "  right  in  the  wrong  place "  for 
military  defence. 

Upon  learning  that  the  town  was  not  to  be 
defended,  young  and  old,  with  self-sacrificing 
patriotism,  answered,  "  If  the  good  of  our 
cause  requires  the  defence  of  the  town  to  be 
abandoned,  let  it  be  done." 

The  President  returned  to  Richmond  to 
await  the  further  development  of  the  enemy's 
plans. 

General  Johnston,  in  an  article  in  the  Cen 
tury  of  May,  1885,  entitled  "  Manassas  to 
Seven  Pines,"  seems  to  have  entirely  for 
gotten  that  Mr.  Davis  visited  him  at  his 
headquarters  in  the  field  after  he  had  retreat 
ed  to  the  south  bank  of  the  Rappahannock, 
and  that  together  they  went  to  Fredericks- 
burg. 

VOL.   I    -13 


194  JEFFERSON  DAVIS. 

He  uses  these  words  : 

"  Mr.  Davis's  narrative  that  follows  is  dis 
posed  of  by  the  proof  that  after  the  army 
left  Manassas  the  President  did  not  visit  it 
until  about  May  14.  .  .  .  That  he  did 
not  make  such  a  visit  is  proved  by  Major  J. 
B.  Washington,  aide-de-camp,  Dr.  Fauntle- 
roy,  surgeon,  and  Colonel  E.  J.  Harvie,  staff 
officers,  who  testify  that  they  have  no  recollec 
tion  whatever  of  such  a  visit  at  such  a  time." 

While  it  may  not  be  of  any  great  importance 
to  history  whether  Mr.  Davis  and  General 
Johnston  did  br  did  not  visit  Fredericksburg 
together,  still  positive  proof  is  presented  that 
such  a  visit  was  made,  and  that  General 
Johnston's  memory  has  failed  him. 

In  the  Rebellion  Records,  published  by  the 
War  Department  at  Washington,  volume  xi., 
part  3,  page  392,  will  be  found  the  following 
order,  issued  to  General  Johnston  by  the 
President,  while  at  Fredericksburg,  May  22, 
1862. 

"FREDERICKSBURG,  VA.,  March  22,  1862. 

tl  GENERAL  JOSEPH  H.  JOHNSTON, 

"  SIR  :  I.  You  will  relieve  Major-General 
Holmes  of  his  command,  and  direct  him  to 
report  at  Richmond  for  further  orders. 

"  II.   You  will  detach  two  brigades  of  m- 

o 

fantry  and  two   companies  of  artillery,   with 
orders  to  report  to  Major-General  Holmes  with 


EVACUATION    OF  MAN  ASS  AS. 


195 


the   least    delay   at  his   headquarters   in  the 
field. 

"  III.  The  troops  when   passing   through 
Richmond  will  be  reported  to  the  Adjutant- 
General  for  any  instructions  which  it  may  be 
needful  to  give  them  at  that  point. 
"  Very  respectfully  yours, 

"  JEFFERSON  DAVIS." 

"HEADQUARTERS,  DEPARTMENT  OF  NORTHERN  VIRGINIA, 
"  RAPID  AN,  March  23,  1862. 

"  Special  Orders,  No.  83. 

"  Under  orders  of  the  President: 

"  I.  Major-General  T.  H.  Holmes,  com 
manding  Acquia  District,  is  relieved  from  the 
command  of  that  district,  and  assigned  to 
duty  temporarily  with  General  Lee,  and  will 
report  to  the  Adjutant  and  Inspector-General, 
Richmond,  Va.,  for  further  orders. 

"  By  command  of  General  Johnston. 

-A.  P.  MASON." 

The  following  letters,  written  by  residents 
of  Fredericksburg,  are  also  appended  to  prove 
conclusively  that  Mr.  Davis,  and  not  Gen 
eral  Johnston,  is  right: 

"FREDERICKSBURG,  VA.,  August  10,  1885. 

"  JUDGE  WILLIAM  S.  BARTON. 

"  MY  DEAR  SIR  :  In  reply  to  your  inquiry 
whether  I  knew  that  President  Davis  visi- 


196  JEFFEXSON  DAVIS. 

ted  Fredericksburg  in  March,  1862,  I  beg  to 
say  that  I  know  he  did.  At  what  time  of 
the  month  it  was,  I  cannot  now  state  posi 
tively,  but  my  impression  is,  it  was  between 
the  1 5th  and  the  2Oth. 

"  On  my  return  from  Richmond,  about  9  or 
10  A.M.,  I  found  President  Davis,  General 
Johnston,  and  General  Holmes  at  my  house. 
Very  soon  after  General  Holmes  ordered  me 
(I  was  his  aide)  to  go  with  the  President 
and  General  Johnston  across  the  river,  to 
make  a  reconnoissance  of  the  country,  etc. 

"  On  the  return  from  the  reconnoissance 
across  the  river,  I  well  remember,  in  coming 
through  the  little  town  of  Falmouth,  the 
President,  at  whose  side  I  was  riding  at  the 
time,  made  this  remark  to  me  :  '  To  use  a 
slang  phrase,  your  town  of  Fredericksburg  is 
right  in  the  wrong  place/  to  which  I  replied 
I  was  well  aware  of  the  fact,  so  far  as  its  ca 
pability  for  being  defended  against  an  invad 
ing  force  was  concerned. 

"  Yours  truly, 

"  J.   T.   DOSWELL." 

"FREDERICKSBURG,  August  17,  1885. 

"In  March,  1862,  President  Davis  and  Gen 
eral  J.  E.  Johnston  visited  Fredericksburg, 
and  were  guests  of  my  friend  and  connection, 
Mr.  J.  T.  Doswell,  The  morning  after  their 


EVACUATION  OF  MAN  ASS  AS.  197 

arrival,  they  crossed  to  the  north  side  of  the 
Rappahannock  River,  and  were  absent  some 
hours  examining  the  country.  On  their  re 
turn  to  Mr.  Doswell's  house,  many  citizens 
called  to  pay  their  respects  to  the  President. 

"The  result  of  their  examination  of  the  lo 
cality  was  understood  here  to  be  unfavorable 
to  the  defence  of  the  town  itself  against  an 
attack  from  the  opposite  bank  of  the  river. 
I  am  unable  to  give  the  exact  date  of  that 
visit.  But  some  matters,  personal  to  myself 
and  distinctly  remembered,  enable  me  to  state 
positively  that  it  was  before  the  arrival  here 
of  any  of  General  Johnston's  troops  on  their 
movement  toward  Yorktown,  and  before  any 
of  General  McQellan's  transports  had  passed 
down  the  Potomac  River. 

"  W.  S.  BARTON/' 


CHAPTER    XX. 

THE  EXECUTIVE  MANSION— THE   HOSPITALS. 

IN  July  we  moved  to  the  "  old  Brocken- 
brugh  house,"  and  began  to  feel  somewhat 
more  at  home  when  walking  through  the  old- 
fashioned  terraced  garden  or  the  large  airy 
rooms  in  the  seclusion  of  family  life. 

The  mansion  stands  on  the  brow  of  a  steep 
and  very  high  hill,  that  is  sharply  defined 
against  the  plain  at  its  foot  through  which 
runs  the  Danville  railway  that  leads  to  the 
heart  of  Virginia.* 

*  On  this  plain,  where  the  working  class  lived  exclusively,  the 
"  Butcher  cats  "  laid  in  wait  for,  and  were  sworn  to  eternal  enmity 
against,  the  Hill  cats.  These  high  contending  parties  had  a  heredi 
tary  hate  which  had  impelled  them  for  nearly  a  hundred  years  to 
fight  whenever  close  enough  for  either  stones  or  fists  to  strike.  They 
were  the  children  of  the  poor  against  the  gentlemen's  sons.  "I  was," 
said  a  very  steady  painter's  apprentice  to  me,  "a  Butcher  cat 
before  I  moved  up  on  Main  Street."  Allegiance  seemed  to  change 
with  the  domicile.  Woe  betide  the  boy  who  stood  at  certain  hours 
on  the  hill  alone  ;  a  shower  of  stones  and  bricks  were  thrown  by  the 
sturdy  little  lowlanders.  The  Hill  cats  gathered  to  the  sound  of  a 
shrill  whistle  and  sallied  down  with  hands  full  of  like  weapons,  to 
flee  again  to  their  hill-top  as  soon  as  they  had  discharged  them. 
There  were  also  set  battles,  in  which,  though  the  Hill  cats  had  the 
advantage  of  position,  the  Butcher  cats  most  often  came  out  victors. 
A  little  orphan  free  negro  boy  whom  we  had  rescued  from  one  of 
his  own  color,  who  had  beaten  him  terribly,  lived  from  that  time 


THE   EXECUTIVE  MANSION.  199 

The  house  is  very  large,  but  the  rooms  are 
comparatively  few,  as  some  of  them  are  over 
forty  feet  square.  The  ceilings  are  high,  the 
windows  wide,  and  the  well-staircases  turn 
in  easy  curves  toward  the  airy  rooms  above. 
The  Carrara  marble  mantels  were  the  delight 
of  our  children.  One  was  a  special  favorite 
with  them,  on  which  the  whole  pilaster  was 
covered  by  two  lovely  figures  of  Hebe  and 
Diana,  one  on  either  side  in  bold  relief, 
which,  with  commendatory  taste,  were  not 
caryatides.  The  little  boys,  Jefferson  and 
Joe,  climbed  up  to  the  lips  of  these  "  pretty 
ladies  "  and  showered  kisses  on  them.  The 
entablature  was  Apollo  in  his  chariot,  in  basso 
relievo.  Another  was  a  charming  conception 
of  Cupid  and  Psyche,  with  Guide's  Aurora 

with  us.  Mr.  Davis,  notwithstanding  his  absorbing  cares,  went  to 
the  Mayor's  office  and  had  his  free  papers  registered  to  insure  Jim 
against  getting  into  the  power  of  the  oppressor  again.  Jim  Limber, 
which  he  said  was  his  name  in  his  every-day  clothes,  who  became 
Jeems  Henry  Brooks  in  his  best  suit  on  Sunday,  was  a  fearless  ally 
of  the  Hill  cats.  Once  he  came  in  with  the  blood  pouring  over 
his  face  from  a  scalp  wound  made  by  a  stone. 

Mr.  Davis  was  much  troubled,  for  we  were  fond  of  the  little  boy. 
He  descended  the  hill  and,  relying  on  his  popularity  with  children, 
he  made  a  little  speech  to  the  Butcher  cats,  in  which  he  addressed 
them  as  the  future  rulers  of  their  country.  They  listened  attentively, 
nudging  their  approval  to  each  other,  but  when  he  concluded,  the 
tallest  boy  said,  "  President,  we  like  you,  we  didn't  want  to  hurt  any 
of  your  boys,  but  we  ain't  never  goin'  to  be  friends  with  them  Hill 
cats."  So  the  President,  like  many  another  self-appointed  peace 
maker,  came  back  without  having  accomplished  anything  except  an 
exhausting  walk. 


200  JEFFERSON  DAVIS. 

for  the  entablature.  A  lady  more  in  love 
with  art  than  learned  in  pronouncing  gazet 
teers,  said,  with  pleasure  shining  through  her 
eyes,  "  I  do  so  love  Cupid  and  Pish,  some 
times  I  forget  anyone  is  talking  to  me  in 
gazing  at  them." 

The  tastes,  and  to  some  extent  the  occupa 
tions  and  habits,  of  the  master  of  a  house,  if 
he,  as  in  this  case,  assisted  the  architect  in  his 
design,  are  built  in  the  brick  and  mortar,  and 
like  the  maiden's  blood  in  the  great  bell,  they 
proclaim  aloud  sympathy  or  war  with  those 
whom  it  shelters.  One  felt  here  the  pleasant 
sense  of  being  in  the  home  of  a  cultivated, 
liberal,  fine  gentleman,  and  that  he  had  dwelt 
there  in  peaceful  interchange  of  kind  offices 
with  his  neighbors.  The  garden,  planted  in 
cherry,  apple,  and  pear  trees,  sloped  in  steep 
terraces  down  the  hill  to  join  the  plain  below. 
To  this  garden  or  pleasance  came  always  in 
my  mind's  eye  a  lovely  woman,  seen  only  by 
the  eye  of  faith,  as  she  walked  there  in 
"maiden  meditation." 

Every  old  Virginia  gentleman  of  good  so 
cial  position  who  came  to  see  us,  looked  pen 
sively  out  on  the  grounds  and  said,  with  a  tone 
of  tender  regret,  something  like  this  :  "  This 
house  was  perfect  when  lovely  Mary  Brock- 
enbrugh  used  to  walk  there,  singing  among 
the  flowers  ;  "  and  then  came  a  description 


THE  EXECUTIVE  MANSION.  201 

of  her  light  step,  her  dignified  mien,  her  sweet 
voice,  and  the  other  graces  which  take  hold 
of  our  hearts  with  a  gentle  touch,  and  hold 
them  with  a  grip  of  steel.  At  first  it  seemed 
odd,  and  we  regretted  our  visitor's  disappoint 
ment,  but  after  a  while  Mary  came  to  us,  too, 
and  remained  the  tutelar  goddess  of  the  gar 
den.  Her  name  became  a  household  word. 
"  Whether  Mary  would  approve,"  was  a 
question  my  husband  playfully  asked,  when 
he  liked  the  arrangement  of  the  drawing- 
rooms. 

Mrs.  James  Grant  lived  in  another  fine  old 
house  next  door  to  us,  and  with  her  we 
formed  a  lasting  friendship,  which  was  testi 
fied  on  her  part  by  every  neighborly  atten 
tion  that  kind  consideration  could  suggest. 
If  Mr.  Davis  came  riding  up  the  street  with 
General  Lee,  and  their  staff  officers  clattering 
after  them,  Mrs.  Grant  heard  them  and  sent 
some  dainty  which  her  housewifely  care  had 
prepared,  or  fruit  from  her  farm  on  the  out 
skirts  of  Richmond.  If  our  children  were  ill, 
she  came  full  of  hope  and  kind  offices  to 
cheer  us  by  her  good  sense  and  womanly 
tenderness.  The  very  sight  of  her  handsome 
face  brought  comfort  to  our  hearts.  She  fed 
the  hungry,  visited  the  sick,  clothed  the 
naked,  showed  mercy  to  the  wicked,  and  her 
goodness,  like  the  city  set  upon  the  hill,  ' '  could 


202  JEFFERSON  DAVIS. 

not  be  hid."  Her  brothers,  the  Crenshaws, 
had  great  flouring  mills  near  Richmond,  and 
made  a  noble  use  of  their  surplus  in  their  un 
ostentatious  Quaker  fashion.  When  flour  be 
came  scarce  and  so  high-priced  as  to  prohibit 
the  use  of  it  to  the  poor,  they  dispensed  it 
with  glad  alacrity  to  all  who  were  in  need. 
There  were  numbers  who  received  it  gratui 
tously  and  daily  in  small  quantities  from  the 
mills.  When  a  great  fire  consumed  everything 
about  them,  the  mills  were  untouched,  and  we, 
who  believed  in  a  special  Providence,  thought 
they  were  saved  through  the  righteousness 
of  their  owners. 

On  my  first  introduction  to  the  ladies  of 
Richmond,  I  was  impressed  by  the  simplicity 
and  sincerity  of  their  manners,  their  beauty, 
and  the  absence  of  the  gloze  acquired  by  as 
sociation  in  the  merely  "  fashionable  society." 
They  felt  the  dignity  attached  to  personally 
conducting  their  households  in  the  best  and 
most  economical  manner,  cared  little  for  fash 
ionable  small-talk,  but  were  full  of  enthusiasm 
for  their  own  people,  and  considered  wisely 
and  answered  clearly  any  practical  question 
which  would  tend  to  promote  the  good  of 
their  families  or  their  country. 

I  was  impressed  by  a  certain  offishness  in 
their  manner  toward  strangers  ;  they  seemed 
to  feel  that  an  inundation  of  people  perhaps 


THE   EXECUTIVE  MANSION. 


203 


of  doubtful  standards,  and,  at  best,  of  different 
methods,  had  poured  over  the  city,  and  they 
reserved  their  judgment  and  confidence,  while 
they  proffered  a  large  hospitality.  It  was  the 
manner  usually  found  in  English  society  tow 
ard  strangers,  no  matter  how  well  introduced, 
a  wary  welcome.  In  the  more  southern  and 
less  thickly  settled  part  of  our  country,  we 
had  frontier  hospitality  because  it  was  a  ne 
cessity  of  the  case.  In  Virginia,  where  the 
distances  were  not  so  great,  and  the  candi 
dates  for  entertainment  were  more  numerous, 
it  was  of  necessity  more  restricted. 

We  were  fortunate  in  finding  several  old 
friends  in  Richmond.  The  Harrisons,  of 
Brandon,  and  the  handsome  daughters  of  Mr. 
Ritchie,  who  had  been  for  many  years  dear 
and  valued  friends.  During  our  stay  there  we 
made  other  friends,  who,  if  I  never  have  the 
good  fortune  to  meet  them  again,  will  remain 
to  me  a  blessed  memory.  As  I  revert  to  the 
heroic,  sincere,  Christian  women  of  that  self- 
sacrificing  community,  it  is  impossible  to  spe 
cify  those  who  excelled  in  all  that  makes  a 
woman's  children  praise  her  in  the  gates  and 
rise  up  and  call  her  blessed,  and  this  tribute 
is  paid  to  them  out  of  a  heart  full  of  tender 
reminiscences  of  the  years  we  dwelt  with 
them  in  mutual  labor,  sympathy,  confidence, 
and  affection.  They  clothed  and  cared  for 


204  JEFFERSON  DAVIS. 

their  own  households,  sewed  for  the  soldiers, 
made  our  battle-flags,  and  sent  their  dearest 
and  only  bread-winners  to  give  their  lives  for 
them.  They  fed  the  hungry,  cared  for  the 
orphans,  deprived  themselves  of  every  wonted 
luxury  to  give  it  to  the  soldiers,  and  were 
amid  their  deprivations  so  cheerful,  as  to  ani 
mate  even  the  men  with  hope.  When  all 
was  lost,  they  awaited  their  fate  with  as  much 
silent  courage  as  was  evinced  by  the  men. 
The  exception  was  a  woman  who  did  not 
nurse  at  some  hospital.  I  did  not,  because 
Mr.  Davis  felt  it  was  best  for  me  not  to  ex 
pose  the  men  to  the  restraint  my  presence 
might  have  imposed,  and  in  lieu  of  nursing  I 
issued  provisions  which  had  been  sent  to  me 
from  the  Governor  of  Virginia,  and  other 
persons  charitably  inclined  toward  the  fami 
lies  of  soldiers. 

Among  those  who  labored  in  the  hospitals, 
I  recall  now  with  great  clearness  Mrs.  Lucy 
Webb,  Miss  Emily  V.  Mason,  Mrs.  Phoebe 
Pember,  and  as  well,  Mrs.  James  Alfred 
Jones's  beautiful  young  face,  in  a  tobacco 
warehouse  which  had  been  converted  into  a 
hospital  ward  for  desperately  wounded  men. 
She  came  forward  with  a  bowl  of  water  and  a 
sponge  with  which  she  had  been  wetting  the 
stump  of  a  suffering  soldier's  arm.  The  at 
mosphere  was  fetid  with  the  festering  wounds, 


THE  EXECUTIVE  MANSION.  205 

and  must  have  oppressed  her  greatly,  for  she 
was  as  fragile  as  she  was  beautiful ;  the  tears 
brimmed  over  her  lovely  eyes  as  she  ex 
claimed,  "  Oh,  Mrs.  Davis,  there  has  been  a 
case  of  pyaemia  here,  can  nothing  be  done  ?  " 
We  took  counsel  together  for  a  moment,  and 
then  I  went  to  my  husband,  who  had  the 
wounded  men  camped  out,  and  fortunately 
only  one  died. 

Here  I  saw  a  remarkable  instance  of  the 
position  our  private  soldiers  occupied  at  home. 
Some  money  had  been  sent  to  me  from 
Vicksburg  to  relieve  the  "boys  from  Warren 
County."  Hearing  that  there  were  several 
at  this  hospital,  I  walked  from  one  end  to  the 
other  and  tried  in  vain  to  find  a  man  who  de 
sired  pecuniary  aid.  One  fair  -  haired  boy, 
with  emaciated  face  and  armless  sleeve,  looked 
up  and  whispered,  "  There  is  a  poor  fellow 
on  the  other  side  who  I  think  will  take  a  little, 
I  am  afraid  he  has  no  money  ;  my  father  gives 
me  all  I  want."  I  crossed  the  room  and 
asked  the  sufferer,  who  had  neither  hand,  if  I 
could  not  get  him  something  he  craved.  He 
flushed  and  said,  "  I  thank  you,  madam,  for 
your  visit,  but  I  do  better  than  that  poor  fel 
low  over  there  ;  he  has  lost  his  leg  and  suffers 
dreadfully."  And  so  on  to  the  end  of  the 
ward. 

Mr.  James  Lyons  and  his  handsome  wife 


206  JEFFERSON  DAVIS. 

dispensed  a  large  and  graceful  hospitality  at 
Laburnum,  their  country  home  in  the  suburbs, 
and  a  finer  example  of  a  high-bred  Virginia 
household  could  not  have  been  found.  The 
Haxalls,  McFarlands,  Aliens,  Archers,  An 
dersons,  Stewarts,  Warwicks,  Stanards,  and 
others  well  and  admiringly  remembered,  kept 
pace  with  them,  and  bravely  they  bore  aloft 
the  old  standard  of  Virginia  hospitality. 

My  husband's  health  was  at  this  time  very 
precarious,  and  he  was  too  weak  to  ride  to 
headquarters.  General  Lee  came  up  from 
camp  one  day  evidently  worn  out  and  worried, 
to  find  Mr.  Davis  lying  quite  ill  on  a  divan,  in  a. 
little  morning-room  in  which  we  received  only 
our  intimate  friends.  General  Lee,  with  a  bow 
and  excuse  for  coming  in  on  the  white  carpet 
with  his  splashed  boots,  sat  down  and  plunged 
at  once  into  army  matters  ;  the  outlook  was 
not  encouraging,  and  the  two  friends  talked 
in  a  circle  until  both  were  worn  out.  There 
was  a  little  silver  saucepan  on  the  hearth, 
and  the  General  stopped  abruptly  and  said, 
"  That  is  a  comfortable  and  pretty  little  thing, 
what  do  you  use  it  for?"  And  then  what  a 
delight  it  gave  me  to  heat  steaming  hot  the 
cafe  ait  lait  it  contained  and  hand  it  to  him 
in  a  little  Sevres  cup.  When  I  attempted  to 
ring  for  a  servant  to  bring  luncheon,  he  said, 
"  This  drink  is  exquisite,  but  I  cannot  eat ;  do 


THE  EXECUTIVE  MANSION.  207 

not  call  a  servant,  it  is  very  cozy  just  so  ;  " 
then  looking  at  the  cup,  he  remarked,  with  a 
twinkle  in  his  eye,  "  my  cups  in  camp  are 
thicker,  but  this  is  thinner  than  the  coffee." 
Behind  the  playful  speech  I  saw  the  intense 
realization  he  had  of  the  coarse  ways  and  un 
comfortable  concomitants  of  a  camp,  and  that 
he  missed  as  keenly  the  refinements  of  life  to 
which  he  had  been  accustomed  after  four 
years,  as  he  did  at  first. 

In  the  last  part  of  the  war  no  one  had  deli 
cacies,  invitations  very  common  among"  inti 
mate  friends  were,  "  Do  come  to  dinner  or 
tea,  we  succeeded  in  running  the  blockade  this 
week."  This  meant  coffee  after  dinner,  pre 
served  fruits,  loaf-sugar,  good  tea,  or  some 
times  that  which  was  always  very  acceptable 
to  Mr.  Benjamin's  palate,  anchovy  paste.  He 
used  to  say,  with  bread  made  of  Crenshaw's 
flour  spread  with  the  paste,  English  walnuts 
from  an  immense  tree  in  the  grounds,  and  a 
glass  of  the  McHenry  sherry,  of  which  we  had 
a  small  store,  "a  man's  patriotism  became 
rampant,"  Once,  when  he  was  invited  to  par 
take  of  a  beefsteak  pie,  of  which  he  was  very 
fond,  he  wrote  :  "  I  have  never  eaten  them  in 
perfection  except  in  the  Cunard  steamers  (my 
cook  had  been  chef  on  one),  and  I  shall  enjoy 
the  scream  of  the  sea-birds,  the  lashing  of  the 
sea,  and  see  '  the  blue  above  and  the  blue 


2o8  JEFFERSON  DAVIS. 

below/    while    I    eat  it ;    so   you  may  expect 
me." 

The  close  relations  that  fellowship  in  dan 
ger  brings  about  are  sweet  memories,  and 
are  harder  to  relinquish  than  those  of  courtly 
ceremony  or  triumph.  Our  women  knitted 
like  Penelope,  from  daylight  until  dark.  They 
did  it,  however,  not  as  a  subterfuge,  but  to 
clothe  their  families  and  the  soldiers — socks, 
gloves,  mufflers,  under-clothing,  everything 
that  could  be  worn  of  this  fabric,  was  made 
and  admirably  shaped. 

Mr.  W.  C.  Rives  was  an  exceedingly  neat, 
well-dressed  man  always,  and  the  careful  at 
tention  he  gave  to  his  attire  made  him  ap 
pear  much  younger  than  his  long  and  dis 
tinguished  service  proved  him  to  be.  He 
came  by  invitation  to  our  house  one  morn 
ing  to  breakfast,  wearing  such  a  beautifully 
fitted  suit  of  gray  clothes,  with  gaiters  of 
the  same,  and  they  became  him  so  well,  that 
some  of  the  young  men  remarked  upon  it 
and  suggested  that  Mr.  Rives  must  have 
"  run  the  blockade  ;  "  he  overheard  them 
and  whispered  to  me,  "  Look  at  me,. my  wife 
knitted  every  stitch  of  these  clothes  herself, 
and  had  the  yarn  spun  and  dyed  first.  She 
even  knitted  covering  for  the  buttons."  It 
required  very  close  inspection  by  young 
eyes  to  see  that  they  were  knitted,  and  the 


THE  EXECUTIVE  MANSION.  209 

dainty,  soigne  old  gentleman  looked  his  best 
in  them. 

Mrs.  Robert  E.  Lee  and  her  daughters,  all 
honor  to  them,  furnished  one  hundred  and 
ninety-six  socks  and  gloves  to  Posey's  Brig 
ade,  and  this  when  Mrs.  Lee  was  confined  to 
her  chair,  a  hopeless  victim  of  rheumatism, 
and  her  daughters'  time  was  consumed  by 
nursing  in  the  hospitals. 

Mrs.  Mary  Arnold,  wife  of  W.  T.  Arnold, 
of  Coweta,  Ga.,  made  in  the  year  1863  one 
thousand  and  twenty-eight  yards  of  cloth,  be 
sides  knitting  gratis  socks  and  gloves  for  the 
soldiers. 

The  ladies  made  themselves  natty  little 
gloves  embroidered  beautifully.  Mrs.  Pern- 
berton  sent  me  an  admirable  pattern,  which 
with  increase  or  decrease  served  our  whole 
family.  They  covered  their  worn-out  shoes 
with  pieces  of  silk  and  satin,  drawn  from  old 
boxes  long  unused  ;  old  scraps  of  silk  were  cut 
in  strips,  picked  to  pieces,  carded  and  spun 
into  fine  yarn,  and  silk  stockings  knitted  from 
it.  The  most  beautiful  hats  were  plaited  from 
palmetto,  dried  and  bleached,  as  well  as  from 
straw.  The  feathers  from  domestic  fowls 
were  so  treated  that  they  were  very  decora 
tive  to  their  bonnets,  and  if  one  sometimes 
regretted  that  millinery  should  be  a  matter  of 
private  judgment,  still,  in  their  pretty  home- 

VOL.    II.— 14 


210  JEFFERSON  DAVIS. 

spun  dresses  they  would  have  passed  favor 
ably  in  review  with  any  ladies. 

All  their  accomplishments  were  pressed 
into  the  service  of  the  soldiers.  I  remember 
going  to  one  of  the  hospitals,  to  carry  delica 
cies  to  the  sick.  Miss  Emily  V.  Mason  sat 
by  one  bed  reading  the  prayers  of  the  church 
to  a  man  in  extremis,  while  her  gentle  sister, 
Mrs.  Roland,  sat  in  another  ward  singing  old- 
fashioned  songs  to  her  guitar  as  the  dying 
boy  would  call  for  them,  her  eyes  full  of  un 
shed  tears,  and  her  voice  of  melody.  She  was 
going  blind  and  could  not  work,  so  she  gave 
what  she  could. 

We  had  no  artificial  appliances  at  the  be 
ginning  of  the  war  to  supplement  the  loss  of 
any  member  of  the  body.  There  had  been, 
happily,  little  need  for  such  aids  before  the 
war,  and  these  few  had  been  bought  at  the 
North ;  but  very  soon  the  most  perfect  arti 
ficial  limbs  were  made  in  Charleston,  as  good, 
one  maimed  general  told  me,  as  those  to  be 
had  anywhere. 

It  is  a  proud  memory  that  the  people  of 
our  country  rose  in  their  might,  and  met 
every  emergency  with  industry,  ingenuity, 
self-sacrifice,  and  reckless  daring,  worthy  of 
their  noble  cause. 


CHAPTER   XXI. 

EMANCIPATION   PROCLAMATION. 

THE  Executive  usurpation  of  unconstitu 
tional  powers  became  conspicuous  in  1862. 
One  after  another  barrier  had  been  passed 
without  shocking  the  people.  The  session  of 
the  Maryland  State  Legislature  had  virtually 
been  prorogued,  some  of  its  members  ar 
rested  and  imprisoned  under  circumstances  of 
great  outrage. 

Men  had  been  arrested  at  long  distances 
from  the  seat  of  government,  by  lettres  de 
cachet.  The  Secretary  of  State's  bell  called 
the  emissary,  and  his  signature  was  the  only 
warrant.  Drum-head  courts  -  martial  con 
demned  civilians  to  death  by  the  verdicts  of 
military  commanders.  Domiciliary  visits  were 
made  at  all  hours  for  unspoken  suspicions. 
In  fact,  all  civil  rights  were  for  the  time  sus 
pended. 

'  President  Lincoln,  reasoning  by  analogy, 
thought  that  the  immense  property  in  slaves 
possessed  by  the  South  might  be  the  animat 
ing  cause  of  the  ardor  and  unanimity  of  the 
Confederates,  and  conceived  the  project  of 


212  JEFFERSON  DAVIS. 

liberating  all  the  slaves  by  a  proclamation  of 
gradual  emancipation.  He  hoped  to  com 
pass  the  voluntary  relinquishment  by  each 
State  of  the  right  to  hold  them,  by  the  man 
ner  of  their  manumission.  His  plan  was  to 
make  it  subject  to  the  decision  of  each  State, 
and  the  compensation  for  the  loss  was  to 
be  decided  upon  by  the  State  with  the  co 
operation  of  the  United  States  Government. 
He  said  :  "  The  leaders  of  the  existing  rebel 
lion  entertain  the  hope  that  this  government 
will  ultimately  be  forced  to  acknowledge  the 
independence  of  some  part  of  the  disaffected 
region,  and  that  all  the  slave  States  north  of 
such  part  will  then  say,  '  The  Union  for  which 
we  struggled  being  already  gone,  we  now 
choose  to  go  with  the  Southern  section.'  To 
deprive  them  of  this  hope  substantially  ends 
the  rebellion,  and  the  initiation  of  emancipa 
tion  will  deprive  them,  and  all  States  includ 
ing  it." 

President  Lincoln  hoped  the  love  of  gain 
would  distract  the  counsels  and  alienate  the 
rank  and  file  of  the  Confederates,  but  feared 
that  when  slavery  was  abolished  the  Western 
States  would  find  no  further  objection  to  a 
union  with  the  Southern  States,  their  natural 
allies,  their  neighbors  and  congeners  in  man 
ners  and  tastes,  and  the  Union  would  not  be 
completely  restored.  The  philanthropists  and 


EMANCIPA  TiON  PROCLAMA  T/OJV.          213 

agitators,  however,  very  soon  saw,  after  a  gen 
eral  computation,  that  if  the  proposition  should 
be  accepted  by  the  States,  the  Government 
could  not  assume  the  payment  of  four  hun 
dred  billions  for  the  manumitted  slaves,  even 
though  this  might  be  an  inadequate  com 
pensation  to  their  owners.  So  the  project  of 
legally  emancipating  the  slaves  by  the  con 
sent  of  their  owners,  and  by  offering  com 
pensation  for  them  was  abandoned. 

Of  the  Act  of  Confiscation,  issued  July  25, 
1862,  Mr.  Lincoln  wrote,  July  17,  1862  : 

"  It  also  provides  that  the  slaves  of  persons 
confiscated  under  these  sections  shall  be  free. 
I  think  there  is  an  unfortunate  form  of  express 
ing,  rather  than  a  substantial  objection  to 
this.  It  is  startling  to  say  the  Congress  can 
free  a  slave  without  a  State,  and  yet,  were  it 
said  that  the  ownership  of  the  slave  had  first 
been  transferred  to  the  nation,  and  that  Con 
gress  had  then  liberated  him,  the  difficulty 
would  vanish,  and  this  is  the  real  case.  The 
traitor  against  the  general  Government  for 
feits  his  slave,  at  least  as  justly  as  he  does 
any  other  property,  and  he  forfeits  both  to 
the  Government  against  which  he  offends.* 

*  "  How,"  said  Mr.  Davis,  "  can  a  people  who  glory  in  a  Decla 
ration  of  Independence  which  broke  the  slumbers  of  a  world,  de 
clare  that  men  united  in  defence  of  liberty,  property,  and  the  pursuit 
of  happiness  are  *  traitors  ? '  Is  it  henceforth  to  be  a  dictum  of  hu- 


2i4  JEFFEASON  DAVIS. 

The  Government,  so  far  as  theie  can  be  own 
ership,  owns  the  forfeited  slaves ;  and  the 
question  to  Congress,  in  regard  to  them,  is  : 
Shall  they  be  made  free  or  sold  to  new  mas 
ters  ?  I  see  no  objection  to  Congress  decid 
ing  in  advance  that  they  shall  be  free." 

On  September  I5th,  Mr.  Lincoln,  to  a  dep 
utation  who  urged  him  to  issue  the  emanci 
pation  proclamation  without  compensation  or 
restrictions,  answered,  with  one  of  his  pithy 
antitheses,  "  Such  a  proclamation  would  have 
no  more  effect  than  the  Pope's  tirade  against 
the  comet." 

When  our  army  suffered  defeat,  he  concili 
ated  the  Radicals ;  when  we  were  victorious, 
he  took  counsel  with  the  more  conservative 
men.  We  were  just  at  that  time  in  the  as 
cendant,  but  after  Sharpsburg  Mr.  Lincoln 
felt  that  he  was  in  position  to  issue  his  first 
proclamation,  in  which  he  declared  slavery 
abolished  in  all  States  after  the  ist  of  January 
succeeding,  except  in  such  States  as  had  sub 
mitted  to  Federal  authority.  After  a  hun 
dred  days  he  issued  his  second  proclamation, 
to  take  effect  at  once. 


manity  that  man  may  no  more  take  up  arms  in  defence  of  rights, 
liberty,  and  property  ?  ...  Is  the  highwayman  henceforth  to 
be  lord  of  the  highway,  and  the  poor,  plundered  traveller  to  have 
no  property  which  he  may  defend  at  the  risk  of  the  life  of  the  high 
wayman  ?  " 


EMANCIPATION  PROCLAMATION.          21$ 

Then  was  consummated  the  series  of  ag 
gressions  of  the  anti-slavery  party  of  the 
North,  extending  over  thirty  years,  which 
now  sought  at  a  single  dash  of  the  pen  to 
annihilate  four  hundred  billions  of  our  pro 
perty,  to  disrupt  the  whole  social  structure  of 
the  South,  and  to  pour  over  the  country  a 
flood  of  evils  many  times  greater  than  the 
loss  of  property. 

The  effect  of  the  Emancipation  Proclama 
tion  on  the  people  of  the  South  was  unmis 
takable.  It  roused  them  to  a  determination 
to  resist  to  the  uttermost  a  power  that  re 
spected  neither  the  rights  of  property  nor  con^ 
stitutional  guarantees. 

The  authority  under  which  this  usurpation 
was  to  be  accomplished  was  alleged  to  be 
derived  first  from  a  "  military  necessity,"  and 
second,  from  the  clause  which  gave  to  the 
Federal  Government  the  right  "  to  provide 
for  the  general  welfare." 

The  verdict  rendered  by  the  people  in  their 
next  elections  was,  therefore,  a  protest  not  only 
against  interference  with  slavery  in  the  Con 
federate  States,  but  against  the  suspension 
of  the  writ  of  habeas  corpus,  and  the  other 
usurpations  of  Mr.  Lincoln's  Administration. 

The  Confederates  were  willing  to  have 
peace,  but  not  to  yield  their  rights  under  the 
Constitution,  and  the  projects  for  reconstruc- 


216  £~FFJ£&SO#  DAVIS. 


tion  discussed  by  the  North  ;  none  of  them 
guaranteed  our  equality  in  the  Union.  The 
fatal  policy  of  compromise  was  still  adhered 
to  by  our  enemies,  and  the  South  was  in  Mr. 
Webster's  words  on  another  occasion,  to 
"get  just  what  the  North  yielded,  nothing." 
Meanwhile,  almost  every  family  in  the  South 
had  lost  some  dear  defender  of  their  honor, 
who  had  died  for  liberty's  sake,  and  the 
bonds  of  the  old  loving  Union  had  been 
wrenched  asunder.  Our  people  were  unwill 
ing  to  yield  an  inch  to  the  aggressions  of  the 
North,  for  they  no  longer  loved  the  Union  as 
it  had  been  distorted  by  our  enemies,  and  as 
sincerely  detested  it  as  the  abolitionists  had 
before  secession,  though  even  then  our  peo 
ple  did  not  characterize  it  as  "  a  compact 
with  h—  —  ."  The  time  had  passed  when  a 
compromise  of  our  rights  would  have  been 
willingly  made,  that  we  might  fight  under  the 
banner  our  fathers  so  manfully  aided  to  make 
the  ensign  of  freedom  to  all  nations. 

President  Davis  said  :  "  The  proclamation 
will  have  a  salutary  effect  in  calming  the  fears 
of  those  who  have  constantly  evinced  the  ap 
prehension  that  this  war  might  end  by  some 
reconstruction  of  the  old  Union,  or  some  re 
newal  of  close  political  relations  with  the 
United  States.  These  fears  have  never  been 
shared  by  me,  nor  have  I  been  able  to  perceive 


EMANCIPATION  PROCLAMATION.          217 

on  what  basis  they  could  rest.  But  the  procla 
mation  affords  the  fullest  guarantee  of  the  im 
possibility  of  such  a  result.  It  has  estab 
lished  a  state  of  things  which  can  lead  to  but 
one  of  three  consequences— the  extermination 
of  the  slaves,  the  exile  of  the  whole  white 
population  of  the  Confederacy,  or  absolute 
and  total  separation  of  these  States  from  the 
United  States." 

Now  the  North  bent  its  energies  to  the 
effort  of  subjugating  the  South,  cast  the 
Constitution  to  the  winds,  and  kept  their 
"powder  dry."  But  though  the  majority  of 
the  Confederates  knew  that,  without  a  mir 
acle,  they  must  submit  to  the  forces  of  the 
world  arrayed  against  them,  they  felt," 

Si  cadere  necessi  est,  occurrendum  discrimini. 

The  condition  of  our  servants  began  to  be 
unsettled,  and  it  was  said  that  there  were  clubs 
of  disaffected  colored  men  in  Richmond,  gen 
erally  presided  over  by  a  white  man,  who  were 
furnished  with  two  thousand  dollars  for  each 
servant  who  ran  off  from  our  service ;  however, 
as  we  lost  but  two  in  that  \\  ay,  it  was  hoped  the 
negroes  did  not  sympathize  with  their  abduc 
tors. 

One  young  woman,  who  was  an  object  of 
much  affectionate  solicitude  to  me,  followed 


218  JEFFERSON  DAVIS. 

her  husband  off,  but  systematically  arranged 
her  flight,  made  a  good  fire  in  the  nursery, 
and  came  to  warn  me  that  the  baby  would  be 
alone,  as  she  was  going  out  for  a  while.  We 
never  saw  her  afterward,  and  the  following 
article  copied  in  a  Washington  paper  filled  us 
with  grave  apprehensions  for  the  poor  creat 
ure's  safety. 

"October  7,  1862. 

"  There  are  thousands  of  contrabands  in 
Alexandria,  and  such  another  set  of  misera 
ble  beings  I  have  never  seen  in  this  country. 
Some  entire  houses  are  set  apart  for  them, 
and  into  these  the  abandoned  flock  in  droves. 
Others  live  in  tents,  and  others  in  the  open 
commons  of  the  town. 

"  There  is  already  great  mortality  among 
them,  and  an  Alexandria  physician  told  me 
that  the  small-pox  had  already  broken  out, 
and  would  undoubtedly  make  great  ravages 
in  their  midst  as  soon  as  the  cold  weather 
sets  in.  There  is  little  or  no  occupation  for 
these  contrabands.  They  are,  in  nine  cases 
out  of  ten,  lazy,  good-for-nothing  vagabonds, 
who  seem  impressed  with  the  idea  that  it  is 
the  duty  of  the  Government  to  provide  for 
them.  It  is  certain  that  Cuffee  finds  small 
favor  in  the  eyes  of  the  troops  who  are  now 
there,  particularly  since  the  issue  of  the  eman 
cipation  decree.  Every  day  negroes  are  un- 


EMANCIPATION  PROCLAMATION.       219 

mercifully  beaten  by  white  soldiers,  and  con 
sider  themselves  lucky  to  get  off  with  whole 
bones.  Well-dressed  darkies  are  the  special 
aversion  of  the  volunteers,  and  woe  be  unto 
them  if  they  show  themselves  in  fine  feathers 
on  King  Street."  (Alexandria,  Va.) 


CHAPTER    XXII. 

MISSOURI,    MONITOR,    AND   VIRGINIA   (MERRIMAC). 

THE  Confederate  hopes  were  not  easily 
daunted.  After  each  disaster  victory  again 
crowned  our  army,  and  our  confidence  kept 
pace  with  our  pride  and  admiration. 

While  the  fight  was  going'  on  in  Missouri, 
the  most  dramatic  contest  of  the  war  was  in 
progress  on  the  waters — a  fight  that  not  only 
ended  in  a  great  victory  for  the  Confederacy, 
but  revolutionized  the  art  of  naval  warfare. 

It  was  the  fight  between  the  Virginia 
(formerly  the  United  States  frigate  Merri- 
mac)  and  the  Federal  fleet,  including  the  new 
iron-clad  the  Monitor,  at  Hampton  Roads,  in 
which  the  Virginia  sunk  the  Congress,  and 
disabled  and  sunk  several  smaller  vessels, 
besides  silencing  all  the  guns  at  Newport 
News  but  one. 

The  evacuation  of  Norfolk  necessitated  the 
destruction  of  the  ram  Virginia,  as  she  could 
not  be  brought  up  the  James  river.  The 
consternation  was  great  when  her  loss  was 
known — coming  as  it  did  so  fast  upon  the 


MISSOURI,   MONITOR,    AND    VIRGINIA.      221 

heels  of  her  triumph  over  the  Federal  fleet. 
The  flag  captured  by  her  was  brought  to  the 
Executive  mansion  for  the  President  to  see. 
It  was  borne  by  Colonel  John  Taylor  Wood, 
a  gallant  participant  in  the  fight,  and  was  a 
bunting  flag  of  very  fine  quality  and  large 
size.  I  took  hold  of  it  and  found  it  damp 
with  blood,  and  retired  to  my  room  sick  of 
war  and  sorrowful  over  the  dead  and  dying 
of  both  sections. 


CHAPTER    XXIII. 

SHILOH,    1862.— CORINTH. 

ON  February  4th  General  Beauregard  ar 
rived  at  Bowling  Green  and  reported  to  his 
superior  officer,  General  Albert  Sidney  John 
ston.  On  the  6th  Fort  Henry  surrendered 
after  a  soldierly  defence. 

February  nth  the  evacuation  of  Bowling 
Green  was  begun  and  ended  on  the  I3th, 
and  General  Beauregard  left  for  Columbus, 
Ky. 

On  the  1 6th  Fort  Donelson  fell. 

The  loss  of  Forts  Henry  and  Donelson 
opened  the  river  routes  to  Nashville  and  North 
Alabama,  and  thus  turned  the  positions  both 
at  Bowling  Green  and  Columbus,  and  sub 
jected  General  Johnston  to  severe  criticism. 
The  President  was  appealed  to,  to  remove 
him ;  but  his  confidence  in  General  Johnston 
remained  unimpaired.  In  a  letter  to  the  Pres 
ident,  dated  March  18,  1862,  General  Johnston 
himself  writes  :  "  The  test  of  merit  in  my  pro 
fession,  with  the  people,  is  success.  It  is  a 
hard  rule,  but  I  think  it  right." 

In  reply  to  the  letter  from  which  the  above 


SHILOH,   1862.— CORINTH.  223 

is  an  extract,  the  President  wrote  him  as  fol 
lows  : 

"RICHMOND,  VA.,  March  26,   1862. 

"MY  DEAR  GENERAL:  Yours  of  the  i8th 
instant  was  this  day  delivered  by  your  aid, 
Mr.  Jack.  I  have  read  it  with  much  satisfac 
tion.  So  far  as  the  past  is  concerned,  it  but 
confirms  the  conclusions  at  which  I  had  al 
ready  arrived.  My  confidence  in  you  has 
never  wavered,  and  I  hope  the  public  will  soon 
give  me  credit  for  judgment,  rather  than  con 
tinue  to  arraign  me  for  obstinacy. 

"  You  have  done  wonderfully  well,  and  now 
I  breathe  easier  in  the  assurance  that  you  will 
be  able  to  make  a  junction  of  your  two  ar 
mies. 

"  If  you  can  meet  the  division  of  the  enemy 
moving  from  the  Tennessee  before  it  can 
make  a  junction  with  that  advancing  from 
Nashville,  the  future  will  be  brighter.  If  this 
cannot  be  done,  our  only  hope  is  that  the  peo 
ple  of  the  Southwest  will  rally  en  masse  with 
their  private  arms,  and  thus  enable  you  to  op 
pose  the  vast  army  which  will  threaten  the 
destruction  of  our  country. 

"  I  have  hoped  to  be  able  to  leave  here  for 
a  short  time,  and  would  be  much  gratified  to 
confer  with  you,  and  share  your  responsibili 
ties.  I  might  aid  you  in  obtaining  troops  ; 
no  one  could  hope  to  do  more  unless  he  un- 


224  JEFFERSON  DA  VIS. 

derrated  your  military  capacity.  I  write  in 
great  haste,  and  feel  that  it  would  be  worse 
than  useless  to  point  out  to  you  how  much 
depends  on  you. 

"  May  God  bless  you,  is  the  sincere  prayer 
of  your  friend,  JEFFERSON  DAVIS." 

General  Beauregard  left  Nashville  on  Feb 
ruary  1 4th,  to  take  charge  in  West  Tennessee, 
and  made  his  headquarters  at  Jackson,  on 
February  i7th. 

He  was  somewhat  prostrated  with  sickness, 
which  partially  disabled  him  through  the  cam 
paign.  The  two  grand  divisions  of  his  army 
were  commanded  by  the  able  Generals  Bragg 
and  Polk.  On  March  26th  he  removed  to 
Corinth. 

The  enemy  commenced  moving  up  the 
Tennessee  River  March  loth,  with  the  de 
sign  to  mass  the  forces  of  Grant  and  Buell 
against  the  Confederate  forces  under  Johnston 
and  Beauregard  at  Corinth.  General  Grant 
assembled  his  army  at  Pittsburg  Landing  on 
March  i7th. 

The  Confederate  force  at  Corinth  numbered 
about  forty  thousand,  divided  into  four  corps 
commanded  respectively  by  Major- Generals 
Polk,  Bragg,  and  Hardee,  and  Brigadier-Gen 
eral  Breckinridge.  General  Beauregard  was 
second  in  command  under  General  Johnston. 


SHILOH,   1862.— CORINTH.  225 

The  orders  for  the  march  and  battle  of  the 
Confederate  army  were  issued  on  the  after 
noon  of  April  3d,  and  the  movement  began 
with  the  intention  of  striking  the  enemy  at 
Pittsburg  Landing  on  the  5th,  but  delays, 
caused  by  confusion  and  intermingling  of 
corps  upon  the  road,  were  so  great  that  the 
line  of  battle  was  not  formed  in  front  of  the 
enemy's  outposts  until  late  in  the  evening  of 
that  day.* 

General  Bragg,  in  a  monograph  on  the 
battle  of  Shiloh,  says:  "During  the  after 
noon  of  the  5th,  as  the  last  of  our  troops 
were  taking  position,  a  casual  and  partly  ac 
cidental  meeting  of  general  officers  occurred 
just  in  rear  of  our  second  line,  near  the  bi 
vouac  of  General  Bragg.  The  Commander- 
in-Chief,  General  Beauregard,  Generals  Polk, 
Bragg,  and  Breckinridge,  are  remembered  as 
present.  In  a  discussion  of  the  causes  of  the 
delay  and  its  incidents,  it  was  mentioned  that 
some  of  the  troops,  now  in  their  third  day 
only,  were  entirely  out  of  food,  though  hav 
ing  marched  with  five  days7  rations.  General 

*  Telegram  from  the  President. 

"  RICHMOND,  VA.,  April  5,  1862, 
"To  GENERAL  A.  S.  JOHNSTON,  Corinth,  Miss. 

"  Your  despatch  of  yesterday  received.  I  hope  you  will  be  able 
to  close  with  the  enemy  before  his  two  columns  unite.  I  anticipate 
victory. 

"JEFFERSON   DAVIS," 
VOL.    II.-I5 


226  JEFFERSON  DAVIS. 

Beauregard,  confident  our  movement  had  been 
discovered  by  the  enemy,  urged  its  abandon 
ment,  a  return  to  our  camps  for  supplies,  and 
a  general  change  of  programme.  In  this  opin 
ion  no  other  seemed  fully  to  concur  ;  and  when 
it  was  suggested  that  the  enemy's  supplies 
were  much  nearer,  and  could  be  had  for  the 
taking,  General  Johnston  quietly  remarked, 
1  Gentlemen,  we  shall  attack  at  daylight  to 
morrow.7  The  meeting  then  dispersed,  upon 
an  invitation  of  the  commanding  general  to 
meet  at  his  tent  that  evening."  That  meet 
ing  did  not  change  their  determination.  "  The 
next  morning,  about  dawn  of  day,  the  6th,  as 
the  troops  were  being  put  in  motion,  several 
generals  again  met  at  the  camp-fire  of  the  gen- 
eral-in-chief.  The  discussion  was  renewed, 
General  Beauregard  again  expressing  his  dis 
sent  ;  when  rapid  firing  in  the  front  indica 
ting  that  the  attack  had  commenced,  General 
Johnston  closed  the  discussion  by  remarking: 
'  The  battle  has  opened,  gentlemen  ;  it  is  too 
late  to  change  our  dispositions/  He  pre 
pared  to  move  to  the  front,  and  his  subordi 
nates  promptly  joined  their  respective  com 
mands,  inspired  by  his  coolness,  confidence, 
and  determination.  Few  men  have  equalled 
him  in  the  possession  and  display,  at  the 
proper  time,  of  these  great  qualities  of  the 
soldier," 


SHILOH,  1862.— CORINTH.  227 

The  results  of  the  first  day  of  this  famous 
battle  are  summarily  presented  in  the  follow 
ing  brief  report  of  General  Beauregard  : 

"  At  5  A.M.,  on  the  6th  instant,  a  reconnoi 
tring  party  of  the  enemy  having  become  en 
gaged  with  our  advanced  pickets,  the  com 
mander  of  the  forces  gave  orders  to  begin  the 
movement  and  attack  as  determined  upon, 
except  that.  Trabue's  brigade  of  Breckin- 
ridge's  division  was  detached  and  advanced 
to  support  the  left  of  Bragg's  corps  and  line 
of  battle,  then  menaced  by  the  enemy ;  and 
the  other  two  brigades  were  directed  to  ad 
vance  by  the  road  to  Hamburg  to  support 
Bragg's  right ;  and  at  the  same  time  Maney's 
regiment  of  Folk's  corps  was  advanced  by  the 
same  road  to  reinforce  the  regiment  of  cav 
alry  and  battery  of  four  pieces,  already  thrown 
forward  to  watch  and  guard  Grier's,  Tanner's, 
and  Borland's  Fords  of  Lick  Creek. 

"  Thirty  minutes  after  5  A.M.  our  lines  and 
columns  were  in  motion,  all  animated  evi 
dently  by  a  promising  spirit.  The  front  line 
was  engaged  at  once,  but  advanced  steadily, 
followed  in  due  order,  with  equal  resolution 
and  steadiness,  by  the  other  lines,  which  were 
brought  successively  into  action  with  rare 
skill,  judgment,  and  gallantry  by  the  several 
corps  commanders,  as  the  enemy  made  a 
stand  with  his  masses  rallied  for  the  struggle 


228  JEFFERSON  DAVIS. 

for  his  encampments.  Like  an  Alpine  ava 
lanche  our  troops  moved  forward,  despite  the 
determined  resistance  of  the  enemy,  until  after 
6  P.M.,  when  we  were  in  possession  of  all  his 
encampments  between  the  Owl  and  Lick 
Creeks  but  one  ;  nearly  all  of  his  field-artil 
lery,  about  thirty  flags,  colors,  and  standards, 
over  three  thousand  prisoners,  including  a 
division  commander  (General  Prentiss)  and 
several  brigade  commanders,  thousands  of 
small-arms,  an  immense  supply  of  subsist 
ence,  forage,  and  munitions  of  war,  and  a 
large  amount  of  means  of  transportation,  all 
the  substantial  fruits  of  a  most  complete  vic 
tory — such,  indeed,  as  rarely  have  followed 
the  most  successful  battles,  for  never  was  an 
army  so  well  provided  as  that  of  our  enemy. 

"  The  remnant  of  his  army  had  been  driven 
in  utter  disorder  to  the  immediate  vicinity  of 
Pittsburg,  under  the  shelter  of  the  heavy  guns 
of  his  iron-clad  gunboats,  and  we  remained 
undisputed  masters  of  his  well-selected,  ad 
mirably  provided  cantonments,  after  twelve 
hours  of  obstinate  conflict  with  his  forces, 
who  had  been  beaten  from  them  and  the  con 
tiguous  covert,  but  only  by  the  sustained  on 
set  of  all  the  men  we  could  bring  into  action." 

There  are  two  words  in  this  report  which, 
if  they  could  have  been  truthfully  omitted,  it 
would  have  been  worth  to  us  the  surrender  of 


StilLOIf,  1862.— CORINTH.  229 

all  "the  substantial  fruits  of  a  most  complete 
victory."  It  says:  "  Our  troops  moved  for 
ward  despite,  the  determined  resistance  of  the 
enemy,  until  after  6  P.M.,  when  we  were  in 
possession  of  all  his  encampments  between 
the  Owl  and  Lick  Creeks,  but  one."  It  was 
that  "  one  "  encampment  that  furnished  a  foot 
hold  for  all  the  subsequent  reinforcements 
sent  by  Buell,  and  gave  occasion  for  the  final 
withdrawal  of  our  forces  ;  whereas,  if  that 
had  been  captured,  and  the  "  waters  of  the 
Tennessee"  reached,  as  General  Johnston 
intended,  it  was  not  too  much  to  expect  that 
Grant's  army  would  have  surrendered  ;  that 
Buell's  forces  would  not  have  crossed  the 
Tennessee. 

General  Johnston  fell  at  2.30  P.M.,  while  his 
victorious  army  was  pushing  the  enemy  be 
fore  him  and  in  the  full  tide  of  glorious  victory. 

"  The  mortal  wound  was  from  a  Minie-ball, 
which  tore  the  popliteal  artery  of  the  right 
leg.  He  did  not  live  more  than  ten  or  fifteen 
minutes  after  receiving  it.  It  was  not  neces 
sarily  fatal.  General  Johnston's  own  knowl 
edge  of  surgery  was  adequate  for  its  control 
by  an  extemporized  tourniquet,  had  he  been 
aware  or  regardful  of  its  nature. 

"  Dr.  D.  W.  Yandell,  his  surgeon,  had  at 
tended  his  person  during  most  of  the  morning, 
but  finding  a  lar^e  number  of  wounded  men, 


230  JEFFERSON  DA  VIS. 

including  many  Federals,  at  one  point,  Gen 
eral  Johnston  ordered  Yandell  to  stop  there, 
establish  a  hospital,  and  give  them  his  ser 
vices.  He  said  to  Yandell,  '  These  men 
were  our  enemies  a  moment  ago,  that  are 
prisoners  now  ;  take  care  of  them/  Yandell 
remonstrated  against  leaving  him,  but  he  was 
peremptory,  and  the  doctor  began  his  work. 
He  saw  General  Johnston  no  more.  Had 
Yandell  remained  with  him,  he  would  have 
had  little  difficulty  with  the  wound.  It  was 
this  act  of  unselfish  charity  which  cost  him 
his  life."  * 

When  rumors  began  to  be  circulated  in 
Richmond  that  a  battle  had  been  fought  and 
won  at  Corinth,  the  President  endured  the  keen 
est  anxiety ;  when  remonstrance  was  made 
against  his  depression  he  said,  "  I  know  John 
ston,  and  if  he  is  alive  either  good  or  bad  news 
would  have  been  communicated  at  once." 
When  at  last  the  dreadful  certainty  settled 
upon  him  that  General  Johnston  was  no  more, 
,he  said  the  cause  could  have  spared  a  whole 
State  better  than  that  great  soldier.  He 
wrote  of  him  in  the  "  Rise  and  Fall :  " 

"  Sidney  Johnston  fell  in  the  sight  of  vic 
tory  ;  the  hour  he  had  waited  for,  the  event 
he  had  planned  for,  had  arrived.  His  fame 

*  Life  of  A.  S.  Johnston,  by  his  son. 


SH1LOH,  \%62.-CORINTH.  231 

was  vindicated,  but  far  dearer  than  this  to 
his  patriotic  spirit  was  it  with  his  dying  eyes 
to  behold  his  country's  flag,  so  lately  droop 
ing  in  disaster,  triumphantly  advancing.  In 
his  fall  the  great  pillar  of  the  Southern  Con 
federacy  was  crushed,  and  beneath  its  frag 
ments  the  best  hope  of  the  Southwest  lay 
buried.  A  highly  educated  and  richly  en 
dowed  soldier,  his  varied  experience  embraced 
also  civil  affairs,  and  his  intimate  knowledge 
of  the  country  and  people  of  the  Southwest 
so  highly  qualified  him  for  that  special  com 
mand,  that  it  was  not  possible  to  fill  the  place 
made  vacant  by  his  death.  Not  for  the  first 
time  did  the  fate  of  an  army  depend  upon  a 
single  man,  and  the  fortunes  of  a  country 
hang,  as  in  a  balance,  on  the  achievements 
of  a  single  army.  To  take  an  example  far 
from  us,  in  time  and  place,  when  Turenne 
had,  after  months  of  successful  manoeuvring, 
finally  forced  his  enemy  into  a  position  which 
gave  assurance  of  victory,  and  had  marshalled 
his  forces  for  a  decisive  battle,  he  was,  when 
making  a  preliminary  reconnoissance,  killed 
by  a  chance  shot ;  then  his  successor,  instead 
of  attacking,  retreated,  and  all  which  the  one 
had  gained  for  France,  the  other  lost." 

The    extracts    which     have     been     given 
sufficiently  prove  that,  when  General  John- 


232  JEFFERSON  DAVIS. 

ston  fell,  the  Confederate  army  was  so  fully 
victorious  that,  had  the  attack  been  vigorously 
pressed,  General  Grant  and  his  army  would 
before  the  setting  of  the  sun  have  been  fugi 
tives  or  prisoners. 

The  command  then  devolved  upon  General 
Beauregard,  who  checked  the  advance  all  too 
soon.  An  hour  more  and  the  enemy  would 
have  surrendered  or  perished  in  the  Tennes 
see.  That  this  is  not  a  reckless  statement, 
let  us  hear  what  the  actors  in  the  battle  have 
to  say. 

General  Hardee,  who  commanded  the  first 
line,  says  in  his  report : 

"  Upon  the  death  of  General  Johnston,  the 
command  having  devolved  upon  General 
Beauregard,  the  conflict  was  continued  until 
sunset,  and  the  advance  divisions  were  within 
a  few  hundred  yards  of  Pittsburg,  where  the 
enemy  were  huddled  in  confusion,  when  the 
order  to  withdraw  was  received!' 

General  Polk  in  his  report  says : 

"  We  had  one  hour  or  more  of  daylight 
still  left,  were  within  one  hundred  and  fifty  to 
four  hundred  yards  of  the  enemy's  position, 
and  nothing  seemed  wanting  to  complete  the 
most  brilliant  victory  of  the  war  but  to  press 
forward  and  make  a  vigorous  assault  on  the 
demoralized  remnant  of  his  forces." 


SHILOH,  1862.— CORINTH.  233 


Statement  of  Colonel  C.  H.  LeBaron. 

"  About  2  o'clock  P.M.,  the  first  day's  fight, 
when  the  enemy  held  a  stubborn  front  to  us,  I 
was  near  General  Bragg.  He  ordered  me  to 
go  to  General  Johnston  to  ask  for  reinforce 
ments.  I  obeyed  his  command  and  went  to 
look  for  General  Johnston.  Some  distance  in 
the  rear  of  the  line  of  battle,  I  met  Major 
Thomas  Jordan,  one  of  General  Beauregard's 
staff.  I  was  acquainted  with  him,  and  asked 
where  I  could  find  General  Johnston.  His 
reply  was,  '  General  Johnston  has  been 
killed,  General  Beauregard  is  now  in  com 
mand  ;  say  nothing  of  General  Johnston's 
death,  the  army  must  not  know  it.  You  will 
find  General  Beauregard  back  there,  tell  him 
Major  Jordan  requests  him  to  come  nearer  to 
the  front.'  I  went  on  my  errand  and  asked 
for  reinforcements,  but  said  nothing  about 
Major  Jordan's  request  about  coming  nearer 
to  the  front. 

"  I  returned  to  General  Bragg  and  informed 
him  of  the  death  of  General  Johnston.  The 
Confederates  continued  to  drive  the  Federals 
from  one  stand  to  another,  until  about  five 
o'clock  P.M.,  when  the  latter  ceased  fighting 
and  got  under  the  river  bank.  At  this  time 
all  was  quiet,  except  an  occasional  shell  from 


234  JEFFERSON  DAVIS. 

the  gunboats,  which  went  high  over  our 
heads ;  the  Confederates  coming  up  to  the 
front  and  resting.  At  this  time,  I  saw  at  a 
short  distance  off  the  Twenty-first  Alabama 
Regiment.  Having  two  nephews  and  a  cousin 
in  it,  with  numerous  friends  from  Mobile,  I 
asked  General  Bragg's  permission  to  go  to 
that  regiment,  which  he  granted.  I  found 
them  all  in  high  spirits,  feeling  as  if  the  work 
had  been  done  completely.  Major  Stewart,  in 
command,  requested  me  to  ask  General  Bragg 
for. orders.  I  went  back  to  General  Bragg, 
and  he  ordered  the  Twenty-first  Alabama  to 
advance  and  drive  the  enemy  into  the  river, 
and  ordered  me  to  carry  the  order  along  the 
line.  I  left  Major  Stewart  and  was  about  to 
carry  out  General  Bragg's  orders,  when  I 
met  one  of  General  Beauregard's  staff,  who 
inquired  for  General  Bragg.  I  rode  back  to 
General  Bragg  with  this  officer,  who  said  to 
General  Bragg,  '  General  Beauregard  orders 
you  to  cease  fighting  and  to  rest  your  men  to 
night  ;  '  to  which  General  Bragg  replied, 
'  Have  you  promulgated  this  order  to  the 
command  ? '  The  officer  replied,  '  I  have.' 
General  Bragg  said  :  '  If  you  had  not,  I  would 
not  obey  it ;  the  battle  is  lost/  ' 


SH1LOH,   1862.— CORINTH.  235 

Statement  of  Colonel  William  H.  Me  Cardie. 

"  As  A.  A.  General  of  the  First  Division  of 
the  First  Corps  (Folk's),  I  had  occasion  to  see 
General  Beauregard  twice  during  Sunday, 
April  6th.  The  first  time  I  saw  him  was 
between  ten  and  eleven  o'clock  A.M.  ;  and  the 
second  time  was  between  the  hours  of  two  and 
three  o'clock  P.M.  Each  time  I  saw  him  at  his 
headquarters,  some  two  miles  in  the  rear,  a 
distance  that  was  constantly  being  lengthened 
by  the  advance  of  our  troops  and  the  retire 
ment  of  the  enemy.  On  each  occasion  he 
was  eagerly  anxious  for  news  in  regard  to  the 
progress  of  the  fight.  While  retracing  my 
steps  to  the  front  (with  Howell  Hinds)  in  the 
afternoon,  I  was  met  by  Colonel  Mumford,  of 
the  staff  of  General  Johnston,- who  informed 
me  of  the  death  of  General  Johnston,  and  that 
he  was  hastening  to  General  Beauregard  to 
announce  to  him  the  sad  news,  and  that  the 
command  devolved  upon  him.  Of  course  it 
amounts  to  nothing  when  I  say  that  I  did  not 
see  General  Beauregard  on  the  field  until 
after  the  fall  of  Johnston,  but  the  conclusion 
is  irresistible  that  he  was  not  present  until 
after  that  disastrous  event.  ...  I  have 
nothing  to  say  of  the  blunders  of  Beauregard 
after  the  death  of  Johnston,  for  they  are  suf 
ficiently  manifest  to  every  one.  .  .  ." 


236  JEFFERSON 

As  the  condition  of  affairs  on  the  Confeder 
ate  side  has  been  plainly  shown,  what  was 
that  of  the  enemy,  and  what  would  have  been 
the  result  of  a  further  advance  of  the  Confed 
erates  ? 

Colonel  Geddes,  of  the  Eighth  Iowa  Volun 
teers,  says  as  follows  : 

"  About  three  P.M.,  all  communications  with 
the  river  (landing)  ceased,  and  it  became  evi 
dent  to  me  that  the  enemy  was  turning  the 
right  and  left  flanks  of  our  army.  .  .  . 

"About  two  o'clock  the  whole  Union  right, 
comprising  the  Forty-sixth  Ohio,  which  had 
held  that  flank  two  hours  or  more,  was  driven 
back  in  disorder,  and  the  Confederate  forces 
cut  the  centre  off  from  the  landing  soon  after 

o 

General  Johnston's  fall." 

When  General  Beauregard  sent  the  order 
for  the  battle  to  cease,  Nelson's  division  of 
Buell's  army  had  just  arrived  on  the  opposite 
bank  of  the  river  at  Pittsburg,  and  was  pre 
paring  to  cross  and  go  to  the  rescue  of  a 
beaten  and  demoralized  army.  The  junction 
of  the  two  Federal  armies  that  General  John 
ston  had  tried  to  anticipate  had  been  made. 

In  the  "  History  of  the  Sixth  Ohio  Regi 
ment,"  by  E.  Hannaford,  the  arrival  of  Nel 
son  is  thus  described  : 

11  On  reaching  the  river  opposite  the  battle 
field,  General  Nelson  looked  in  vain  for  the 


SHILOH,   1862.— CORINTH.  237 

promised  boats.  The  two  or  three  stern- 
wheel  steamers  that  were  lying  under  the 
eastern  bank,  had  come  over  simply  to  avoid 
the  rush  of  the  mob  on  the  farther  shore,  not, 
however,  until  after  some  scores  of  the  scared 
wretches  had  succeeded  in  getting  on  board. 
"  Nelson  had  almost  to  force  the  captains 
of  these  boats  to  take  his  foremost  regiment, 
the  Thirty-sixth  Indiana,  across  ;  and,  hav 
ing  given  orders  to  Colonel  Ammen  to  get 
his  brigade  over  as  quickly  as  possible  and 
then  to  follow  in  person,  crossed  to  Pittsburg 
Landing.  He  was  the  first  to  ride  off  the 
boat,  Dr.  Bradford  being  the  second.  Gen 
eral  Buell  met  him  on  the  bank,  and  ordered 
the  men  formed  rapidly  into  line  as  they 
should  arrive,  and  moved  to  the  front.  '  You 
have  had  the  advance  throughout  the  march,' 
said  Buell,  '  and  here,  General,  is  your  op 
portunity.  There  is  still  one  hour  left  in 
which  to  decide  this  fight.'  At  this  time 
the  roar  of  battle  sounded  appallingly  near  ; 
everything  was  in  confusion  ;  thousands  of 
panic-stricken  fugitives  were  cowering  under 
the  bluff,  filling  the  air  with  their  cries  and 
lamentations ;  and  hundreds  of  teams,  with 
all  the  debris  of  a  beaten  army,  were  com 
mingled  in  the  utmost  disorder,  and  covered 
the  landing  down  to  the  water's  edge.  It 
was  a  sickening  sight — one  that  has  never 


238  JEFFERSON  DA  VIS. 

been  adequately  described,  and  never  can  be. 
Finding  that  words  were  thrown  away  upon 
the  rabble  around  him,  General  Nelson  after 
ward  asked  permission  to  open  fire  upon 

them.     '  Get    out    of  the  way,  you    d d 

cowards/  he  exclaimed,  furiously,  as  a  rush 
was  made  toward  one  of  the  boats  whence  a 
detachment  of  the  Sixth  Ohio  was  disembark 
ing  ;  "  get  out  of  the  way  !  If  you  won't  fight 
yourselves  let  these  men  off  that  will.  Sixth 
Ohio,  follow  me  ! ' 

"  Upon  the  bluff  overlooking  the  landing, 
General  Grant  was  met,  moody  and  silent, 
and  at  that  moment  on  foot.  Colonel  Am- 
men,  having  meanwhile  transmitted  to  Colo 
nels  Bruce  and  Hazen  the  order  to  hurry  the 
men  across,  reported  to  Nelson  upon  the 
bluff.  The  Thirty-sixth  Indiana  was  over. 
Companies  A,  F,  and  D,  of  the  Sixth  Ohio 
were  landing,  and  the  Twenty-fourth,  and  the 
remaining  companies  of  the  Sixth  Ohio,  were 
either  in  the  stream  or  in  the  act  of  disem 
barking.  Grant  told  Ammen  that  he  wanted 
him  to  support  *  that  battery  on  the  left  there/ 
pointing,  as  he  spoke,  to  Captain  Stone's  bat 
tery  ;  whereupon  Colonel  Ammen  hastened 
to  form  such  of  his  troops  as  had  already  ar 
rived.  While  affairs  were  in  this  posture,  a 
cannon-ball  came  whistling  between  the  trees, 
took  the  head  of  one  of  Grant's  orderlies  off, 


SHILOH,  1862.— CORINTH.  239 

shot  away  the  saddle  from  under  Lieutenant 
Graves,  one  of  Nelson's  aids,  and  went  plung 
ing  over  the  bluff  into  the  river  below,  pro 
ducing  consternation  indescribable  among  the 
thousands  herded  about  the  landing.  '  Don't 
stop  to  form,  Colonel,  don't  stop  to  form,'  im 
plored  a  staff  officer,  hurrying  toward  Colonel 
Ammen  ;  '  we  shall  all  be  massacred  if  you 
do  !  There  isn't  a  man  out  yonder,  on  the 
left,  between  us  and  the  rebels.  For  God's 
sake,  Colonel,  hurry  your  men  forward.' 
.  jj.  .  As  soon  as  the  Thirty-sixth  Indiana 
could  be  formed,  and,  without  waiting  for  the 
remainder  of  the  brigade,  Colonel  Ammen 
moved  it  forward  ;  General  Buell,  who  had 
previously  examined  the  ground,  showing 
him  where  to  post  it.  The  position  assigned 
it  was  only  about  two  hundred  yards  from  the 
bluff,  on  the  extreme  left  of  the  Union  line,  if 
line  it  might  have  been  called,  and  behind  the 
crest  of  the  hill  that  rises  above  the  ravine 
before  described.  Companies  A,  F,  and  D, 
of  the  Sixth  Ohio,  formed  on  its  left  and  a 
little  in  the  rear,  but  the  rebel  attack  was  too 
far  to  their  right  to  permit  them  to  get  into 
action  that  night.  In  this  quarter  the  artil 
lery  had  been  left  absolutely  without  any  or 
ganized  infantry  support,  and  the  handful  of 
troops  that  still  remained,  chiefly  cannoneers, 
were  in  extreme  disorder.  Had  Bragg  been 


240  JEFFERSON  DAVIS. 

able  to  renew  his  assault  upon  this  portion  of 
the  Union  lines  before  the  opportune  arrival 
of  Ammen's  brigade — in  all  human  probabil 
ity  he  would  have  forced  the  position." 

Says  a  staff  officer  of  the  Tenth  Brigade, 
U.  S.  A. : 

"  I  doubt  whether,  on  any  battle-field  dur 
ing  the  war,  any  set  of  men  ever  formed  un 
der  just  such  circumstances  as  the  Sixth  Ohio 
at  Shiloh.  I  shall  never  forget  the  scene. 
More  than  half  of  our  artillery  was  gone,  our 
entire  force  driven  into  twelve  or  fifteen  acres 
of  ground,  a  thousand  wagons  and  nearly  all 
of  the  tents  were  captured,  the  enemy  press 
ing  forward  almost  in  sight ;  batteries  and 
musketry  in  front,  and  a  cross-fire  of  cannon 
from  above,  and  ten  thousand  panic-stricken 
men  of  our  own  fled  out  of  the  fight,  hailing 
the  troops  just  arriving  with  such  cries  as, 
'  We're  whipped  !  ' '  The  fight  is  lost  ! '  '  We're 
cut  to  pieces  !  '  '  It's  no  use  to  form  ! '  '  They're 
driving  us  into  the  river,'  etc.  In  this  terri 
ble  extremity  the  regiment  fell  quickly  and 
orderly  into  line,  and  at  the  word  moved 
gallantly  forward.  I  could  not  resist  the 
temptation  of  riding  my  iron-gray  close  up  to 
the  lines,  and  crying  out,  '  Bully  for  the  Sixth 
Ohio  !  '  The  regiment  was  halted  a  short 
distance  in  the  rear  of  the  Thirty-sixth  Indi 
ana,  the  firing  having  materially  slackened ; 


SHILOH,  1862.  —  CORINTH.  241 

in  a  few  minutes  it  ceased  entirely.  Within 
the  next  half-hour  the  deepening  darkness, 
setting  at  rest  the  question  of  further  fight 
ing  for  that  day,  had  decided  the  issue  of 
the  struggle  :  '  Night  and  Blucher  had  both 
come.'  ' 

Mr.  Davis,  in  reply  to  a  letter  from  a  friend, 
says  :  "  There  was  no  need  to  say  more  than 
you  have  said  about  Shiloh,  concerning  which, 
notwithstanding  his  report,  where  little  was 
said  of  Sidney  Johnston  except  the  fact  that 
he  was  killed,  Beauregard  has  but  two  sus 
tained  claims.  One  to  have  prepared  the 
order  of  march,  which  resulted  in  failure  to 
bring  the  troops  on  the  ground  at  the  time 
and  manner  required ;  and  the  other,  to  have 
withdrawn  the  army  at  the  moment  of  victory, 
and  thus  to  have  sacrificed  all  which  the  skill 
and  heroism  of  Johnston  had  achieved." 

On  the  morning  of  the  7th,  the  enemy, 
now  reinforced  by  Wallace's  division  and  the 
army  of  Buell,  advanced  about  six  o'clock  and 
opened  a  heavy  fire  of  musketry  and  artil 
lery. 

The  Confederates  fought  these  new  ene 
mies  with  their  accustomed  valor  and  spirit, 
but  after  the  junction  of  Buell  and  Grant  had 
been  effected,  and  General  Johnston's  plan 
for  fighting  them  in  detail  miscarried  by  the 
delays  incident  upon  getting  the  troops  upon 
VOL.  II.— 16 


242  JEFFERSON  DAVIS. 

the  field,  a  retreat  to  Corinth  became  a  ne 
cessity. 

The  field  return  of  the  army  of  Mississippi 
before  the  battle  of  Shiloh,  showed  a  total  of 
40,335.  The  effective  force  of  Grant's  army 
was  49,3 14;  reinforcements  of  Buell,  21,579; 
total,  70,893.  The  casualties  were  as  fol 
lows  :  Confederates  killed,  wounded,  and 
missing,  10,699;  Grant's  army,  April  6th, 
11,220,  leaving  for  duty  on  the  7th,  59,673. 

"  About  9  P.M.  on  the  evening  that  we 
crossed  the  river,"  says  Dr.  Stephens,  surgeon 
of  the  Sixth  Ohio,  "Lieutenant-Colonel  An 
derson  ordered  me  to  take  charge  of  the  old 
log-house  on  the  top  of  the  bluff  (the  same 
building,  as  it  would  appear,  that  General 
Grant  had  occupied  during  the  day  as  head 
quarters),  and  there  organize  our  regimental 
hospital,  which  was  accordingly  done,  and  the 
place  made  as  comfortable  as  its  bare  walls 
and  our  scanty  supplies  would  permit.  About 
eleven  o'clock  our  attention  was  called  to 
some  general  and  a  staff  officer  seated  close 
together  on  the  top  of  two  empty  barrels  that 
stood  in  the  middle  of  one  of  the  rooms.  I 
thought  it  a  strange  place  for  them,  and  was 
still  more  surprised  a  few  minutes  afterward 
to  hear  the  staff  officer  address  his  compan 
ion  as  General  Grant.  Both  officers  appeared 
to  be  much  dejected  (as  was  my  impression 


SHILOH,  1862.— CORINTH.  243 

at  the  time),  very  little  conversation,  how 
ever,  being  carried  on  between  them.  Sev 
eral  times  during  the  night,  guns  and  pistols 
were  fired  close  around  the  building  by  some 
of  the  demoralized  troops  at  the  landing. 
This  appeared  to  annoy  the  General  greatly, 
and  once  or  twice  he  left  his  seat  on  the  bar 
rel,  and,  going  to  the  door,  cried,  at  the  top 
of  his  voice,  '  Stop  that  firing  !  '  Once,  on  re 
turning  to  his  companion,  he  said,  '  The 
cowards  !  if  they  were  to  get  their  deserts, 
the  first  thing  to  be  done  in  the  morning 
would  be  to  take  a  cannon  and  shell  them  out 
from  there.'  The  pair  occupied  their  posi 
tions  on  the  top  of  the  barrels,  'grand,  gloomy, 
and  peculiar,'  until  daylight  of  Monday  morn 
ing,  when  they  disappeared  as  mysteriously 
as  they  came."  * 

On  April  9th,  General  H.  W.  Halleck  left 
St.  Louis  and  proceeded  to  assume  command 
of  the  Federal  force  at  Pittsburg  Landing. 
A  reorganization  was  made  in  which  General 
Grant's  divisions  formed  the  right  wing  ;  those 
of  General  Buell  the  centre  ;  and  those  of  Gen 
eral  Pope  the  left  wing  ;  and  an  advance  on 
Corinth  was  commenced  on  April  28th,  with  a 
force  exceeding  85,000  effectives.  On  May 
2d  he  had  reached  within  eight  miles  of  Co- 

*  Story  of  a  Regiment  (Sixth  Ohio). 


244  JEFFERSON  DAVIS. 

rinth,  and  on  the  2ist  his  batteries  were  with 
in  three  miles.  His  move'ments  were  very 
slow,  and  at  night  his  army  was  protected  by 
an  intrenched  camp ;  by  day  he  was  assailed 
by  the  Confederate  skirmishers.  At  9  A.M. 
of  the  29th,  Halleck's  works  were  substan 
tially  done  and  the  siege  train  brought  for 
ward. 

The  force  of  Beauregard  was  less  than  45,- 
ooo  men.  He  estimated  that  of  the  enemy 
between  85,000  to  91,000. 

General  Beauregard  being  unable  to  hold 
Corinth,  commenced  the  removal  of  his  sick 
preparatory  to  an  evacuation  on  May  26th,  and 
on  the  next  day  arrangements  were  made 
for  falling  back  on  the  29th.  The  evacuation 
was  complete,  not  only  the  army  but  every 
piece  of  ordnance  was  withdrawn.  The  re 
treat  was  continued  to  Tupelo,  the  enemy  not 
interfering. 

On  June  I4th  orders  were  sent  to  General 
Bragg  from  Richmond  to  proceed  to  Jackson, 
Miss.,  and  temporarily  to  assume  command 
of  the  department  then  under  the  command 
of  General  Lovell.  The  order  concluded  as 
follows  : 

"  After  General  Magruder  joins,  your  fur 
ther  services  there  may  be  dispensed  with. 
The  necessity  is  urgent  and  absolute. 

11  JEFFERSON  DAVIS." 


SHILOH,  1862.— CORINTH.  245 

On  application  to  General  Beauregard  for 
the  necessary  orders,  he  replied  : 

"  You  cannot  possibly  go.  My  health  does 
not  permit  me  to  remain  in  charge  alone  here. 
This  evening  my  two  physicians  were  insist 
ing  that  I  should  go  away  for  one  or  two 
weeks,  furnishing  me  with  another  certificate 
for  that  purpose,  and  I  have  concluded  to  go, 
intending  to  see  you  to-morrow  on  the  sub 
ject  ;  and  I  leave  you  in  command." 

The  certificate  of  the  surgeons  was  as  fol 
lows  : 

"  We  certify  that,  after  attendance  on  Gen 
eral  Beauregard  for  the  past  four  months,  and 
treatment  of  his  case,  in  our  professional  opin 
ion  he  is  incapacitated  physically  for  the  ar 
duous  duties  of  his  present  command,  and  we 
earnestly  recommend  rest  and  recuperation. 
(Signed)       «  R.  L.  BRODIE,  P.A.F.S. 
"  SAM.  CHOPPIN." 

These  facts  were  telegraphed  to  the  Presi 
dent  at  once  by  General  Bragg.  Soon  after 
Mr.  Davis  sent  him  another  telegram,  renew 
ing  the  order,  and  expressing  his  surprise 
that  he  should  have  hesitated  to  obey,  when 
the  original  order  stated  "  the  necessity  is  ur 
gent  and  absolute."  Before  this  second  tele 
gram  was  received  by  General  Bragg,  Gen- 


246  JEFFERSON  DAVIS. 

eral  Beauregard  had  transferred  the  command 
of  the  army  to  him,  and  had  departed  for 
Bladen  Springs.  General  Bragg  thus  de 
scribes  the  subsequent  proceedings : 

"  Prepared  to  move,  I  telegraphed  back  to 
the  President  that  the  altered  conditions  in 
duced  me  to  await  orders.  In  reply  to  this  I 
was  immediately  notified  by  telegraph  of  my 
assignment  to  'permanent  command  of  the 
army.' 

The  telegram  read  as  follows : 

"RICHMOND,  June  20,  1862. 

"  GENERAL  BRAXTON  BRAGG,  Tupelo,  Miss. 

"  Your  despatch  informing  me  that  General 
Beauregard  had  turned  over  the  command  to 
you  and  left  for  Mobile  on  surgeons'  certifi 
cate  was  duly  received. 

"  You  are  assigned  permanently  to  the 
command  of  the  department,  as  will  be  more 
formally  notified  to  you  by  the  Secretary  of 
War. 

"  You  will  correspond  directly  and  receive 
orders  and  instructions  from  the  Government 
in  relation  to  your  future  operations. 

"  JEFFERSON  DAVIS." 

As  the  telegrams  sent  to  Secretary  of  War 
Stanton,  after  the  evacuation  of  Corinth,  are 
of  such  a  remarkable  character,  and  evincing 
so  little  regard  for  the  truth  that  they  are 


SHILOH,  1862.— CORINTH.  247 

amusing,   I    cannot    refrain  from  adding   the 
following  as  specimens : 

"HALLECK'S  HEADQUARTERS,  June  4th. 

"  General  Pope  with  40,000  is  thirty  miles 
south  of  Corinth,  pushing  enemy  hard.  He 
already  reports  10,000  prisoners  and  desert 
ers  from  the  enemy,  and  15,000  stand  of  arms 
captured.  Thousands  of  the  enemy  are  throw 
ing  away  their  arms,  A  farmer  says  that 
when  Beauregard  had  learned  that  Colonel 
Elliott  had  cut  the  railroad  on  his  line  of  re 
treat,  he  became  frantic  and  told  his  men  to 
save  themselves  as  best  they  could. 

"  H.  W.   HALLECK, 
"  Major-General  (Commanding). 
"  To  E.  M.  STANTON,   Secretary  of  War." 

"  CORINTH,   June  9,    1862. 

"  The  enemy  has  fallen  back  to  Saltillo 
(Tupelo  ?),  fifty  miles  by  rail  and  near  seventy 
by  wagon  road.  General  Pope  estimates 
rebel  loss  from  casualties,  prisoners,  and  de 
sertions  at  over  20,000,  and  General  Buell  at 
between  20,000  and  30,000.  An  Englishman 
employed  in  the  Confederate  Commissary  De 
partment  says  they  had  120,000  men  in  Co 
rinth,  and  that  they  cannot  muster  much  over 
80,000.  Some  fresh  graves  on  the  road  have 
been  opened  and  found  Jilled  with  arms  (?). 
"  H.  W.  HALLECK,  Major -General'' 


$4%  jEFFEtiSON  DA  VlS. 

"CORINTH,  July  3,   1862. 

"  .  .  .  I  am  not  responsible  for  the  truth 
of  the  statements  thus  communicated.  .  .  . 

"  In  regard  to  the  number  of  prisoners  and 
arms  taken,  I  telegraphed  the  exact  language 
of  General  Pope.  If  it  was  erroneous  the  re 
sponsibility  is  his,  not  mine. 

"H.  W.   HALLECK,  Major-General" 


CHAPTER    XXIV. 

NEW  ORLEANS. 

ALTHOUGH  depressed  by  the  loss  of  the 
victory  virtually  won  by  General  Johnston  at 
Shiloh,  because  "  someone  had  blundered  " 
after  his  death,  the  people  were  still  far  from 
being  hopeless  of  final  success.  They  knew 
that  we  were  still  masters  of  the  river  south 
of  Fort  Pillow,  and  they  believed  that  we 
should  be  able  still  to  retain  the  rich  valley  of 
the  lower  Mississippi. 

But  general  disappointment  and  a  tempo 
rary  feeling  of  alarm  suddenly  arose  from  an 
event  unexpected,  and  never  hitherto  feared  : 
the  fall  of  New  Orleans,  which  had  been  re 
garded  as  strong  enough  to  repel  the  attack 
ing  force.  Such  also  had  been  the  belief  of 
General  Lovell,  the  military  commander 
there,  as  late  as  December  5,  1861.  Chains 
were  stretched  across  the  approaches  to  New 
Orleans,  and  obstructions  sunk  in  the  river 
at  the  narrowest  points ;  the  forts  had  been 
all  strengthened  ;  but  all  these  were  passed. 
Our  new  ram,  the  Mississippi,  was  destroyed 
by  our  forces,  and  all  the  machinery  and  ma- 


2$d  JEFFERSON  DAVIS. 

teriel  of  war  was  lost,  and  the  key  to  the 
Mississippi  was  in  the  enemy's  hands.  ^ 

The  loss  of  New  Orleans  was  a  terrible 
disaster.  But  deeply  as  its  capture  was  de 
plored  by  the  Confederates,  the  spirit  of  the 
people  did  not  become  despondent,  and  a 
series  of  Confederate  victories  soon  revived 
their  most  ardent  hopes  of  achieving  national 
independence. 

General  Butler  was  soon  inaugurated  as 
the  autocratic  ruler  of  the  city. 

His  course  in  hanging  Mumford  upon  the 
charge  of  hauling  down  the  United  States 
flag  from  the  Mint,  of  which  act  he  was  in 
nocent,  and  in  issuing  "  Order  No.  28,"  ex 
cited  strong  resentment  not  only  in  the  South, 
but  in  the  North  and  abroad,  but  does  not 
properly  come  within  the  scope  of  a  biography 
of  the  President  of  the  Confederacy.  The 
moral  effect  of  his  infamous  "  Order  No.  28  " 
was  great,  and  reconciled  whomsoever  might 
have  differed  from  the  policy  of  the  Con 
federate  leaders  within  our  borders.* 

*  General  Butler' ' j  Order  28, 
"  HEAD  QUARTERS  DEPARTMENT  OF  GULF, 

"NEW  ORLEANS,  May  15,1862. 

"As  officers  and  soldiers  of  the  United  States  have  been  subject 
to  repeated  insults  from  women  calling  themselves  ladies  of  New 
Orleans,  in  return  for  the  most  scrupulous  non-interference  and  cour 
tesy  on  our  part,  it  is  ordered  hereafter,  when  any  female  shall,  by 
mere  gesture  or  movement,  insult  or  show  contempt  for  any  officers 


ORLEANS.  25! 

Butler's  government  in  New  Orleans,  and 
his  assaults  upon  the  helpless  women  and  non- 
combatants,  filled  our  army  with  horror  and 
indignation. 

Upon  the  receipt  of  a  copy  of  this  infamous 
order,  President  Davis  issued  his  proclama 
tion  as  follows  : 

After  reciting  that  General  Halleck  had  put 
General  Lee  off  by  delay,  to  avoid  either 
avowal  or  disavowal  of  General  Butler's  cruel 
course  in  the  execution  of  an  innocent  non- 
combatant,  the  President  said : 

"  And  whereas,  the  silence  of  the  Govern 
ment  of  the  United  States  and  its  maintaining 
of  said  Butler  in  high  office  under  its  author 
ity  for  many  months  after  his  commission  of 
an  act  that  can  be  viewed  in  no  other  light 
than  as  a  deliberate  murder,  as  well  as  of 
numerous  other  outrages  and  atrocities  here 
after  to  be  mentioned,  afford  evidence  only 
too  conclusive  that  the  said  Government 
sanctions  the  conduct  of  said  Butler,  and  is 
determined  that  he  shall  remain  unpunished 
for  his  crimes  ; 

"  Now,  therefore,  I,  Jefferson  Davis,  Presi- 

or   soldiers  of  the  United  States,  she  shall  be  regarded  and  held 
liable  to  be  treated  as  a  woman  about  town  plying  her  avocation. 
"By  command  of 

"  MAJOR-GENERAL  BUTLER. 
"  GEORGE  C.  STRONG,  A.  A,  G." 


252  JEFFERSON  DAVIS. 

dent  of  the  Confederate  States  of  America, 
and  in  their  name,  do  pronounce  and  declare 
the  said  Benjamin  F.  Butler  to  be  a  felon,  de 
serving  of  capital  punishment.  I  do  order 
that  he  be  no  longer  considered  or  treated 
simply  as  a  public  enemy  of  the  Confederate 
States  of  America,  but  as  an  outlaw  and  com 
mon  enemy  of  mankind  ;  and  that  in  event  of 
his  capture,  the  officer  in  command  of  the 
capturing  force  do  cause  him  to  be  immedi 
ately  executed  by  hanging ;  and  I  do  further 
order  that  no  commissioned  officer  of  the 
United  States  taken  captive  shall  be  released 
on  parole  before  exchange  until  the  said  But 
ler  shall  have  met  with  due  punishment  for 
his  crimes. 

"  And  whereas  the  hostilities  waged  against 
this  Confederacy  by  the  forces  of  the  United 
States  under  the  command  of  said  Benjamin 
F.  Butler  have  borne  no  resemblance  to  such 
warfare  as  is  alone  permissible  by  the  rules 
of  international  law  or  the  usages  of  civiliza 
tion,  but  have  been  characterized  by  repeated 
atrocities  and  outrages,  among  the  large  num 
ber  of  which  the  following  may  be  cited  as 
examples : 

"  Peaceful  and  aged  citizens,  unresisting 
captives  and  non-combatants,  have  been  con 
fined  at  hard  labor,  with  balls  and  chains  at 
tached  to  their  limbs,  and  are  still  so  held,  in 


NEW  ORLEANS.  253 

dungeons  and  fortresses.  Others  have  been 
subjected  to  a  like  degrading  punishment  for 
selling  medicines  to  the  sick  soldiers  of  the 
Confederacy. 

"  The  soldiers  of  the  United  States  have 
been  invited  and  encouraged  by  general  or 
ders  to  insult  and  outrage  the  wives,  the 
mothers,  and  the  sisters  of  our  citizens. 

"  Helpless  women  have  been  torn  from 
their  homes  and  subjected  to  solitary  confine 
ment,  some  in  fortresses  and  prisons,  and  one 
especially  on  an  island  of  barren  sand  under 
a  tropical  sun  ;  have  been  fed  with  loathsome 
rations  that  had  been  condemned  as  unfit  for 
soldiers,  and  have  been  exposed  to  the  vilest 
insults. 

"  Prisoners  of  war,  who  surrendered  to  the 
naval  forces  of  the  United  States  on  agree 
ment  that  they  should  be  released  on  parole, 
have  been  seized  and  kept  in  close  confine 
ment. 

"  Repeated  pretexts  have  been  sought  or 
invented  for  plundering  the  inhabitants  of  the 
captured  city  by  fines,  levied  and  exacted  un 
der  threat  of  imprisoning  recusants  at  hard 
labor  with  ball  and  chain. 

"  The  entire  population  of  the  city  of  New 
Orleans  have  been  forced  to  elect  between 
starvation,  by  the  confiscation  of  their  prop 
erty,  and  taking  oath  against  conscience  to 


254  JEFFERSON  DAVIS. 

bear  allegiance  to  the  invaders  of  their  coun 
try. 

"  Egress  from  the  city  has  been  refused 
to  those  whose  fortitude  withstood  the  test, 
even  to  lone  and  aged  women  and  to  helpless 
children  ;  and  after  being  ejected  from  their 
homes  and  robbed  of  their  property,  they  have 
been  left  to  starve  in  the  streets  or  subsist  on 
charity. 

"  The  slaves  have  been  driven  from  the 
plantations  in  the  neighborhood  of  New  Or 
leans  till  owners  would  consent  to  share  the 
crops  with  the  commanding  general,  his 
brother,  Andrew  J.  Butler,  and  other  officers  ; 
and  when  such  consent  had  been  extorted, 
the  slaves  have  been  restored  to  the  planta 
tions,  and  there  compelled  to  work  under  the 
bayonets  of  guards  of  United  States  soldiers. 

"  Where  this  partnership  was  refused,  armed 
expeditions  have  been  sent  to  the  plantations 
to  rob  them  of  everything  that  was  suscept 
ible  of  removal,  and  even  slaves  too  aged  or 
infirm  for  work  have,  in  spite  of  their  en 
treaties,  been  forced  from  the  homes  provided 
by  the  owners  and  driven  to  wander  helpless 
on  the  highway. 

"By  a  recent  order  (No.  91),  the  entire 
property  in  that  part  of  Louisiana  lying  west 
of  the  Mississippi  River  has  been  sequestrated 
for  confiscation,  and  officers  have  been  as- 


NEW  ORLEANS.  255 

signed  to  duty,  with  orders  to  '  gather  up 
and  collect  the  personal  property,  and  turn 
over  to  the  proper  officers,  upon  their  receipts, 
such  of  said  property  as  may  be  required  for 
the  use  of  the  United  States  Army ;  to  col 
lect  together  all  the  other  personal  property 
and  bring  the  same  to  New  Orleans,  and  cause 
it  to  be  sold  at  public  auction  to  the  highest 
bidders  ' — an  order  which,  if  executed,  con 
demns  to  punishment  by  starvation  at  least 
a  quarter  of  a  million  of  human  beings  of  all 
ages,  sexes,  and  conditions  ;  and  of  which  the 
execution,  although  forbidden  to  military  offi 
cers  by  the  orders  of  President  Lincoln,  is  in 
accordance  with  the  confiscation  law  of  our  en 
emies,  which  he  has  directed  to  be  enforced 
through  the  agency  of  civil  officials.  And, 
finally,  the  African  slaves  have  not  only  been 
excited  to  insurrection  by  every  license  and 
encouragement,  but  numbers  of  them  have 
actually  been  armed  for  a  servile  war — a  war 
in  its  nature  far  exceeding  in  horrors  the  most 
merciless  atrocities  of  the  savages. 

"And  whereas  the  officers  under  the  com 
mand  of  the  said  Butler  have  been  in  many 
instances  active  and  zealous  agents  in  the 
commission  of  these  crimes,  and  no  instance 
is  known  of  the  refusal  of  any  one  of  them 
to  participate  in  the  outrages  above  nar 
rated  ; 


256  JEFFERSON  DAVIS. 

"  And  whereas  the  President  of  the  United 
States  has,  by  public  and  official  declaration, 
signified  not  only  his  approval  of  the  effort  to 
excite  the  servile  war  within  the  Confederacy, 
but  his  intention  to  give  aid  and  encourage 
ment  thereto  if  these  independent  States  shall 
continue  to  refuse  submission  to  a  foreign 
power  after  the  first  day  of  January  next,  and 
has  thus  made  known  that  all  appeals  to  the 
laws  of  nations,  the  dictates  of  reason,  and 
the  instincts  of  humanity  would  be  addressed 
in  vain  to  our  enemies,  and  that  they  can  be 
deterred  from  the  commission  of  these  crimes 
only  by  the  terms  of  just  retribution  ; 

"  Now,  therefore,  I,  Jefferson  Davis,  Presi 
dent  of  the  Confederate  States  of  America, 
and  acting  by  their  authority,  appealing  to 
the  Divine  Judge  in  attestation  that  their  con 
duct  is  not  guided  by  the  passion  of  revenge, 
but  that  they  reluctantly  yield  to  the  solemn 
duty  of  repressing,  by  necessary  seventy, 
crimes  of  which  their  citizens  are  the  victims, 
do  issue  this  my  proclamation,  and  by  virtue 
of  my  authority  as  Commander-in-chief  of 
the  Armies  of  the  Confederate  States,  do 
order  : 

"  First.  That  all  commissioned  officers  in 
the  command  of  said  Benjamin  F.  Butler  be 
declared  not  entitled  to  be  considered  as  sol 
diers  engaged  in  honorable  warfare,  but  as 


NEW  ORLEANS.  257 

robbers  and  criminals,  deserving  death  ;  and 
that  they  and  each  of  them  be,  whenever  cap 
tured,  reserved  for  execution. 

"  Second.  That  the  private  soldiers  and 
non-commissioned  officers  in  the  army  of 
said  Butler  be  considered  as  only  the  instru 
ments  used  for  the  commission  of  the  crimes 
perpetrated  by  his  orders,  and  not  as  free 
agents  ;  that  they  therefore  be  treated,  when 
captured,  as  prisoners  of  war,  with  kindness 
and  humanity,  and  be  sent  home  on  the  usual 
parole  that  they  will  in  no  manner  aid  or 
serve  the  United  States  in  any  capacity  during 
the  continuance  of  this  war,  unless  duly  dis 
charged. 

"  Third.  That  all  negro  slaves  captured  in 
arms  be  at  once  delivered  over  to  the  execu 
tive  authorities  of  the  respective  States  to 
which  they  belong,  to  be  dealt  with  according 
to  the  laws  of  the  said  States. 

"  Fourth.  That  the  like  orders  be  executed 
in  all  cases  with  respect  to  all  commissioned 
officers  of  the  United  States,  when  found 
serving  in  company  with  armed  slaves  in  in 
surrection  against  the  authorities  of  the  dif 
ferent  States  of  this  Confederacy. 

"  In  testimony  whereof  I  have  signed  these 
presents    and    caused    the    seal  of  the    Con 
federate    States    of    America    to    be    affixed 
thereto,  at  the  city  of  Richmond,  on  this  z$d 
VOL.  ii.— 17 


258  JEFFERSON  DAVIS. 

day  of  December,   in  the  year  of  our  Lord 
one  thousand  eight  hundred  and  sixty-two. 

"  JEFFERSON  DAVIS." 

In  the  House  of  Lords,  on  the  I3th,  Lord 
Carnarvon  called  attention  to  General  But 
ler's  proclamation  relative  to  the  ladies  of 
New  Orleans,  and  condemned  it  in  severe 
terms  as  without  precedent  in  the  annals  of 
war.  He  asked  if  the  Government  had  in 
formation  of  its  authenticity,  and  if  it  had  pro 
tested  against  it.  He  also  asked  if  there  was 
any  truth  in  the  rumors  of  the  mediation  of 
France  and  England.  The  success  of  such 
mediation  would  depend  greatly  upon  the 
manner  in  which,  and  the  time  when,  it  was 
offered,  but  he  trusted  the  Government  was 
in  position  to  give  the  subject  favorable  con 
sideration. 

Earl  Russell  said  that,  from  Lord  Lyons's 
despatches,  the  Government  believed  the  proc 
lamation  to  be  authentic,  but  with  respect  to 
any  action  of  the  United  States  Government, 
in  the  way  of  approval  or  disapproval,  they 
had  no  information.  Lord  Lyons  had  made 
no  representation  to  the  American  Govern 
ment  upon  the  subject,  and  he  did  not  appear 
to  have  any  information  respecting  the  proc 
lamation  upon  which  he  could  do  so.  For  his 
own  part,  he  (Russell)  hoped  the  American 


NEW  ORLEANS.  259 

Government  would,  for  its  own  sake,  refuse  its 
sanction  to  and  disapprove  the  proclamation. 
It  was  important  to  the  whole  world  that  the 
usages  of  war  should  not  be  aggravated  by 
proclamations .  of  this  kind.  He  then  gave 
the  explanation  of  the  treatment  the  procla 
mation  referred  to,  but  thought  such  procla 
mation,  addressed  to  forces  which  had  just 
captured  a  hostile  town,  was  likely  to  lead  to 
great  brutality.  He  therefore  thought  this 
explanation  was  no  defence  for  the  proclama 
tion,  and  sincerely  hoped  the  American  Gov 
ernment  would  disavow  it. 

With  respect  to  the  rumors  of  mediation, 
Earl  Russell  was  glad  the  question  had  been 
put,  for  the  rumors  were  likely  to  lead  to 
much  mischief.  Her  Majesty's  Government 
had  made  no  proposal  to  France,  and  the 
French  Government  had  made  no  proposal 
to  England  ;  and  therefore  upon  this  subject 
there  had  been  no  communications  of  any 
kind  between  the  two  Governments.  With 
out,  however,  giving  any  opinion  as  to  the 
propriety  of  offering  mediation  at  some  future 
time,  if  circumstances  should  prove  favorable, 
he  must  say  that  at  the  present  time  such 
mediation  appeared  to  him  to  be  the  most 
inopportune.  He  conceived  that  in  the  em 
bittered  state  of  feeling  in  America,  it  would 
not  only  lead  to  no  good,  but  would  re- 


260  JEFFERSON  DAVIS. 

tard  the  time  for  such  offer  being  favorably 
made. 

Mr.  Hopwood  asked  if  there  was  any 
truth  in  the  mediation  rumors. 

Lord  Palmerston  said  that  no  communi 
cation  had  been  received  from  the  French 
Government  on  the  subject ;  and  as  to  the 
British  Government,  they  had  no  intention  at 
present  to  offer  mediation. 


CHAPTER   XXV. 

YORKTOWN  AND   WILLIAMSBURG. 

ON  February  27,  1862,  with  the  approval 
of  the  President,  the  office  of  Commanding- 
General  of  the  Confederate  forces  was  created 
by  the  House  of  Representatives. 

When  General  McClellan  heard  of  the  re 
treat  of  the  Confederate  Army  from  Manassas, 
he  ordered  a  reconnoissance  and  ascertained 
that  our  troops  had  crossed  the  Rapidan. 

General  McClellan's  account  of  this  move 
ment  was  given  in  a  report  to  the  Secretary 
of  War,  dated  Fairfax  Court-House,  March 
n,  1862,  8.30  P.M.  From  it  I  make  a  short 
extract : 

"  I  have  just  returned  from  a  ride  of  more 
than  forty  miles.  Have  examined  Centreville, 
Union  Mills,  Blackburn's  Ford,  etc.  The 
works  at  Centreville  are  formidable  ;  more 
so  than  at  Manassas.  Except  the  turnpike, 
the  roads  are  horrible.  The  country  entirely 
stripped  of  forage  and  provisions.  Having 
fully  consulted  with  General  McDowell,  I  pro 
pose  occupying  Manassas  with  a  portion  of 


262  JEFFERSON  DA  VIS. 

Banks's  command,  and  then  at  once  throwing 
all  the  forces  I  can  concentrate  upon  the  line 
agreed  upon  last  week." 

The  "  formidable  fortifications"  at  Centre- 
ville  consisted  of  nine  small  earthworks  con 
taining  thirty-one  wooden  guns,  known  at 
that  time  as  "  Quakers."  They  were  made 
of  pine  logs,  charred  black,  and  were  in  some 
cases  mounted  on  wagon  wheels  ;  where  they 
were  not,  leaves  and  brush  were  laid  over  the 
embrasures. 

This  armament  was  indeed  formidable,  in 
appearance  at  least,  and  had  the  effect  of  pro 
ducing  the  impression  desired  upon  General 
McClellan.  "  Intelligent  contrabands  "  made 
frequent  reports  to  him  of  the  strong  position 
of  the  Confederates  at  Centreville. 

The  Federal  army  was  transferred  to  the 
Peninsula  early  in  April,  and  General  Mc 
Clellan  landed  about  one  hundred  thousand 
men  at  Fortress  Monroe.  At  this  time  Gen 
eral  Magruder  occupied  the  lower  Peninsula 
with  seven  or  eight  thousand  men. 

General  Magruder  was  then  reinforced  un 
til  his  army  numbered  about  20,000  men. 

As  soon  as  it  was  definitely  ascertained 
that  General  McClellan,  with  his  main  army, 
was  on  the  Peninsula,  General  J.  E.  Johnston 
was  assigned  to  the  command  of  that  depart 
ment.  After  spending  a  day  on  Magruder's 


YORKTOWN  AND    WILLIAMSBURG.         263 

lines,  he  returned  to  Richmond,  recommend 
ed  the  abandonment  of  the  Peninsula,  and 
that  a  position  nearer  Richmond  should  be 
taken. 

The  recommendation  was  held  for  consid 
eration,  and  the  President  proposed  to  invite 
to  the  conference  the  Secretary  of  War, 
George  Randolph,  and  General  Lee,  then 
stationed  in  Richmond. 

General  Johnston  asked  that  he  might  in 
vite  General  Longstreet  and  General  G.  W. 
Smith  to  be  present,  which  was  assented  to. 

After  hearing  the  views  expressed  by  the 
several  officers  named,  the  President  decided 
to  resist  the  enemy  on  the  Peninsula,  and, 
with  the  aid  of  the  navy,  to  hold  Norfolk  and 
keep  command  of  the  James  River. 

The  Confederates  numbered,  when  General 
Johnston  took  command,  over  50,000  men. 

On  April  i6th,  an  assault  was  made  upon 
the  Confederate  lines  at  Warwick,  but  was  re 
pulsed  with  heavy  loss. 

The  month  of  April  was  cold  and  rainy, 
and  our  men  were  poorly  provided  with  shel 
ter  and  with  only  the  plainest  rations,  but  la 
bored  steadily  to  perfect  the  defences. 

By  the  following  telegram,  sent  by  the  Pres 
ident  to  General  Johnston,  the  contents  of 
that  which  he  had  received  from  him  will  be 
readily  inferred. 


264  JEFFERSON  DAVIS. 

"RICHMOND,  VA.,  May  i,  1862. 

"  GENERAL  J.  E.  JOHNSTON,  Yorktown,  Va. 

"  Accepting  your  conclusion  that  you  must 
soon  retire,  arrangements  are  commenced  for 
the  abandonment  of  the  Navy  Yard  and 
removal  of  public  property  both  from  Norfolk 
and  the  Peninsula. 

"  Your  announcement  to-day  that  you 
would  withdraw  to-morrow  night,  takes  us 
by  surprise,  and  must  involve  enormous  loss 
es,  including  unfinished  gunboats.  Will  the 
safety  of  your  army  allow  more  time  ? 

"  JEFFERSON  DAVIS." 

General  Johnston  withdrew  his  army  from 
the  line  of  the  Warwick  River  on  the  night 
of  April  3d.  Heavy  cannonading  both  on  the 
night  of  the  2d  and  3d,  concealed  his  inten 
tion,  and  the  evacuation  was  made  so  suc 
cessfully  that  the  enemy  was  surprised  the 
next  morning  to  find  the  lines  unoccupied. 

The  loss  of  public  property  was,  as  antici 
pated  by  Mr.  Davis,  very  great. 

General  Johnston,  after  an  engagement  at 
Williamsburg,  in  which  the  Fifth  North  Caro 
lina  was  annihilated,  and  the  Twenty-Fourth 
Virginia  suffered  terribly  in  officers  and  men, 
and  General  Early  was  wounded,  retired 
from  the  Peninsula,  and  halted  his  army  in  the 
vicinity  of  Richmond. 


YORKTOWN  AND    WILLIAMSBURG.        265 

As  soon  as  Norfolk  was  evacuated,  a  very 
severe  course  was  adopted  toward  the  citizens. 
In  consequence  of  some  fancied  offence  to  the 
wife  of  General  Viele,  the  ladies  were  forbid 
den  to  speak  while  crossing  on  the  ferry-boat, 
and  every  species  of  indignity  was  inflicted 
upon  the  townspeople.  Mr.  Davis's  anxieties 
were  greatly  increased  by  the  evacuation  of 
the  Peninsula,  and  the  consequent  losses  that 
he  saw  no  speedy  means  to  repair. 

He  thought  it  could  have  been  held,  and 
yet  had  much  faith  in  ,General  Johnston's 
military  opinions,  and  more  in  his  patriotism. 

Our  supplies  -of  every  useful  implement 
were  beginning  to  require  replenishing.  We 
had  lost  large  numbers  of  entrenching  tools  on 
the  retreat,  and  many  heavy  guns,  including 
some  recently  received  and  not  yet  mounted. 

General  Beauregard  appealed  for  bells  to 
be  melted  into  cannon,  March  20,  1862. 
These  bells  were  contributed,  and  captured 
by  the  enemy  in  New  Orleans,  and  sold  in 
Boston  at  Lombard's  North  Wharf,  East 
Boston,  and  averaged  thirty  cents  a  pound  ; 
the  sum  for  which  they  were  sold  amounted  to 
over  $30,000.  Thus  resulted  the  sacrifice  so 
gladly  made  by  individuals  in  the  Confederacy. 

In  this  year  the  Church  and  the  world  sus 
tained  a  great  loss  in  the  death  of  Bishop 
Meade.  He  had  been  General  Lee's  precep- 


266  JEFFERSON  DAVIS. 

tor,  and  when  the  General  went  to  see  him, 
he  called  him  in  the  old  simple  way :  "  Rob 
ert,  come  near  that  I  may  bless  you." 

He  left  a  message  for  the  Confederate  peo 
ple.  "  Tell  your  people  to  be  more  deter 
mined  than  ever.  This  is  the  most  unjust 
and  iniquitous  war  that  was  ever  waged." 
He  was  buried  from  St.  Paul's  Church,  and 
followed  by  a  multitude  of  sincere  mourners. 

In  these  days  of  self-sacrifice  and  dumb 
suffering  many  things  were  endured  which 
should  exalt  the  name  of  Confederates. 

The  burning  of  all  the  cotton  in  the  coun 
try  was  a  stupendous  sacrifice,  and  there  is 
probably  no  man  who  remembers  it  now  well 
enough  to  state  the  facts.  Generally  it  was 
burned  by  the  owner,  but  in  a  few  cases  the 
Government  agent  was  charged  with  the 
duty.  The  following  is  the  form  of  certifi 
cate  given  for  cotton  burned  June  10,  1862  : 

"  This  is  to  certify  that bales  of  cotton, 

belonging  to ,  was  burned  on  his  planta 
tion  this  day. 

« 

"  Provost- Marshal, 
" Parish,  La." 

The  issues  for  which  we  were  battling  for 
tunately  rendered  us  indifferent  to  the  per 
sonal  losses  we  were  everywhere  sustaining. 


YORKTOWN  AND    WILLIAMSBURG.        267 

Mr.  Davis,  after  hearing  of  the  loss  of  our 
property,  the  sacking  of  our  house  on  Brier- 
field,  the  destruction  of  our  fine  library,  the 
loss  of  all  the  blooded  stock  on  the  place,  and 
the  demoralization  of  the  negroes,  and  their 
forcible  deportation,  wrote  to  me  a  long  letter 
about  the  army,  etc.,  and  in  a  paragraph  said: 

"  You  will  have  seen  a  notice  of  the  de 
struction  of  our  home.  If  our  cause  succeeds 
we  shall  not  mourn  over  any  personal  depri 
vation ;  if  it  should  not,  why,  ''the  deluge."  I 
hope  I  shall  be  able  to  provide  for  the  com 
fort  of  the  old  negroes." 

It  is  hard,  in  recalling  the  memory  of  all  our 
heroes  who  fought  and  fell,  to  individualize 
their  separate  acts,  heroism,  or  self-abnegation, 
but  here  is  one  culled  from  an  old  newspaper. 

"The  officers  of  the  Second  Louisiana 
Regiment,  Stafford's  Brigade,  Johnson's  Di 
vision,  Army  of  Northern  Virginia,  went  into 
the  ranks  as  privates,  not  being  near  enough 
home  to  recruit."  No  word  of  approval  is 
appended  to  the  announcement  —  the  act 
elicited  no  expression  of  surprise. 

These  men  came  of  people  who  act  rather 
than  write,  and  now  they  have  no  histori 
ans  ;  but  their  names  are  affectionately  re 
called  by  our  firesides,  and  their  deeds  here, 
like  the  righteousness  of  the  Hebrew  war 
riors,  exalted  their  nation. 


CHAPTER  XXVL 

THE   GUN-BOATS   IN  THE   JAMES  RIVER— BATTLE  OF 
SEVEN  PINES. 

ABOUT  May  9th  Mr.  Davis  insisted  that  we 
should  leave  Richmond,  and  relieve  him  from 
unnecessary  anxiety.  On  the  eve  of  the  gth 
there  was  a  reception,  and  we  were  to  go  in 
three  days.  A  courier  came  to  the  President 
with  despatches,  and  as  he  passed  me  on  his 
return  to  the  drawing-room  I  looked  a  ques 
tion  and  he  responded,  in  a  whisper,  "  The 
enemy's  gun-boats  are  ascending  the  river." 
Our  guests  remained  quite  late,  and  there  was 
no  opportunity  for  .further  conversation. 

As  soon  as  they  were  gone  my  husband  told 
me  he  hoped  the  obstructions  would  prevent 
the  gun-boats  reaching  the  river,  but  that  he 
preferred  we  should  go  the  next  morning. 
Always  averse  to  flight,  I  entreated  him  to 
grant  a  little  delay,  but  he  was  firm,  and  I  com 
municated  the  news  to  the  family.  Dr.  Wil 
liam  M.  Gwin  and  his  daughter  were  visiting 
us,  and  a  friend  from  the  next  corner  had  tar 
ried  beyond  the  rest.  As  soon  as  our  dear 
little  neighbor  was  told  the  news,  she  dropped 


THE   GUN- BO  ATS  IN  THE   JAMES  RIVER.     269 

on  her  knees  and  raising  her  hands  to  heaven, 
ejaculated,  "  Lord  Jesus,  save  and  help  me." 
Notwithstanding  the  crucial  period  through 
which  we  were  passing,  we  all  laughed  heart 
ily,  except  our  friend.  She  was  a  woman  of 
rare  attainments  and  keen  wit,  and  had  writ 
ten  a  journal  which  extended  over  a  long  pe 
riod  of  intercourse  with  the  greatest  men  of 
their  day  at  home  and  abroad.  Such  a  record 
of  the  passing  show  would  have  been  almost 
as  valuable  an  addition  to  the  history  of  the 
time  as  Madame  Junot's  or  Madame  de  Remu- 
sat's  diaries,  but  she  burnt  it  at  once  for  fear 
of  its  being  taken  from  her  by  the  enemy. 

We  left  for  Raleigh,  N.  C.,  on  the  morning 
of  May  loth  ;  the  panic  began  some  days  later, 
and  it  was  pitiable  to  see  our  friends  coming 
in  without  anything  except  the  clothes  they 
had  on,  and  mourning  the  loss  of  their  trunks 
in  a  piteous  jumble  of  pain  and  worriment. 

The  Sunday  before  our  departure,  Mr. 
Davis  was  baptized  at  home  by  Mr.  Minne- 
gerode,  in  the  presence  of  the  Right  Rev. 
Bishop  Johns,  and  a  peace  which  passed  un 
derstanding  seemed  to  settle  in  his  heart, 
after  the  ceremony.  His  religious  convictions 
had  long  occupied  his  thoughts,  and  the  joy 
of  being  received  into  the  Church  seemed  to 
pervade  his  soul. 

Now  the  campaign  began  in  dreadful  ear- 


270  JEFFERSON  DAVIS. 

nest.  Soon  after  General  Johnston  took  posi 
tion  on  the  north  side  of  the  Chickahominy  ; 
accompanied  by  General  Lee,  my  husband 
rode  out  to  his  headquarters  in  the  field,  in 
order  to  establish  a  more  thorough  co-intelli 
gence  with  him.  General  Johnston  came  in 
after  they  arrived,  saying  he  had  been  riding 
around  his  lines  to  see  how  his  position  could 
be  improved.  A  long  conversation  followed, 
which  was  so  inconclusive  that  it  lasted  until 
late  at  night,  so  late  that  they  remained  until 
the  next  morning,  when  Mr.  Davis  sent  me 
the  following  letter : 

"RICHMOND,  May  13,  1862. 

"  Yesterday  afternoon  I  went  to  the  head 
quarters  of  General  Johnston's  army,  about 
twenty-two  or  three  miles  from  here.  He 
was  out  when  we  reached  there,  and  the  dis 
tance  was  so  great  that  after  consultation  it 
was  decided  to  remain,  and  I  rode  in  this 
morning. 

"  The  army  is  reported  in  fine  spirits  and 
condition.  If  the  withdrawal  from  the  Pen 
insula  and  Norfolk  had  been  with  due  prepa 
ration  and  a  desirable  deliberation,  I  should  be 
more  sanguine  of  a  successful  defence  of  this 
city.  Various  causes  have  delayed  the  ob 
structions  and  the  armament  of  the  covering 
fort,  while  the  hasty  evacuation  of  the  defences 
below  and  the  destruction  of  the  Virginia 


THE   GUN-BOATS  IN   THE   JAMES  RIVER.     271 

hastens  the  coming  of  the  enemy's  gun 
boats. 

"  I  know  not  what  to  expect  when  so  many 
failures  are  to  be  remembered,  yet  will  try  to 
make  a  successful  resistance,  and  if  it  were 
the  first  attempt,  would  expect  to  sink  the 
enemy's  boats." 

On  May  i5th,  the  enemy's  fleet  of  five 
ships  of  war,  among  them  the  Monitor, 
steamed  up  the  James  River,  and  took  posi 
tion  within  range  of  the  fort  at  Drewry's 
Bluff,  and  opened  fire  between  eight  and 
nine  o'clock.  The  little  Patrick  Henry  was 
lying  above  the  obstructions,  and  co-operated 
with  the  fort  in  its  defence.  General  Lee 
had  also  some  light  batteries  in  position  on 
the  banks  of  the  river  to  sweep  the  ships' 
decks  with  cannister. 

The  Monitor  and  Galena  steamed  up  to 
within  six  hundred  yards  of  the  fort,  the 
smaller  vessels  were  kept  at  long  range. 

When  it  was  known  in  Richmond  that 
General  Johnston's  army  had  fallen  back  to 
the  vicinity  of  the  city,  and  that  the  enemy's 
gun-boats  were  ascending  the  James,  a  panic 
became  imminent.  Many  were  apprehensive 
that  Richmond  would  be  abandoned  by  the 
Confederate  forces. 

During  the  engagement  which  ensued  with 
the  fort  the  flag-ship  Galena  was  badly  in- 


272  JEFFERSON  DAVIS. 

jured  by  its  guns,  and  her  crew  driven  be 
low  by  the  light  pieces  on  the  banks,  with 
many  casualties.  The  Monitor  was  struck 
repeatedly,  but  the  shot  did  little  damage, 
save  denting  some  of  her  plates. 

At  eleven  o'clock  the  enemy  drew  off,  out 
of  range,  and  moved  down  the  river.  The 
attempt  was  not  renewed. 

Richmond  breathed  freer,  when  it  was 
known  the  danger  had  passed.  On  the 
1 6th,  my  husband  rode  out  to  see  the  works 
and  obstructions  in  the  James  River,  and 
upon  his  return  wrote  to  me  as  follows  : 

" .  .  .  I  returned  this  evening  from  a 
long  ride  through  rain  and  mud,  having  gone 
down  the  James  River  to  see  the  works 
and  obstructions  on  which  we  rely  to  stop 
the  gun-boats.  The  attack  of  ye  .erday  has 
given  an  impulse  to  the  public,  and  our  work 
ing  parties  have  been  increased  so  much  that 
a  few  days  will  now  enable  us  to  effect  more 
than  has  been  done  in  weeks  past.  I  reached 
the  fort  yesterday,  arriving  after  the  firing  had 
ceased,  and  found  the  garrison  quite  elated 
at  their  success,  and  each  one  prompt  to  tell 
that  the  gun-boats  were  clear  gone.  David 
was  under  fire  and  eloquent  in  relation  to 
the  nervousness  of  the  raw  troops,  he  and 
the  marines  being  the  veterans.  .  .  . 
The  panic  here  has  subsided,  and  with  in- 


THE   GUN-BOATS  IN   THE   JAMES  RIVER.     273 

creasing  confidence  there  has  arisen  a  desire 
to  see  the  city  destroyed  rather  than  surren 
dered.  '  They  lightly  talk  of  scars  who 
never  felt  a  wound/  and  these  talkers  have 
little  idea  of  what  scenes  would  follow  the 
battering  of  rows  of  brick  houses.  I  have 
told  them  that  the  enemy  might  be  beaten 
before  Richmond,  or  on  either  flank,  and  we 
would  try  to  do  it,  but  that  I  could  not  allow 
the  army  to  be  penned  up  in  a  city.  The 
boats,  we  ought  to  be,  and  I  hope  are,  able 
to  stop.  Their  army,  when  reduced  to  small- 
arms  and  field  pieces,  I  think  we  can  defeat, 
and  then  a  vigorous  pursuit  will  bring  results 
long  wished  for,  but  not  given  to  the  wind. 
.  .' .  .  Be  of  good  cheer  and  continue  to 
hope  that  God  will  in  due  time  deliver  us 
from  the  hands  of  our  enemies  and  '  sanctify 
to  us  our  deepest  distress.'  As  the  clouds 
grow  darker,  and  when  one  after  another  of 
those  who  are  trusted  are  detected  in  secret 
hostility,  I  feel  like  mustering  clans  were  in 
me,  and  that  cramping  fetters  had  fallen  from 
my  limbs.  The  great  temporal  object  is  to 
secure  our  independence,  and  they  who  en 
gage  in  strife  for  personal  or  party  aggran 
dizement  deserve  contemptuous  forgetful- 
ness.  I  have  no  political  wish  beyond  the 
success  of  our  cause,  no  personal  desire  but 
to  be  relieved  from  further  connection  with 
VOL.  II.— 18 


274  JEFFERSON  DAVIS. 

office ;  opposition  in  any  form  can  only  dis 
turb  me  insomuch  as  it  may  endanger  the 
public  welfare.  .  ;  V  Maggie  is  a  wise 
child.  I  wish  I  could  learn  to  let  people  alone 
who  snap  at  me,  in  forbearance  and  charity 
to  turn  away  as  well  from  the  cats  as  the 
snakes.  Dear  little  Joey  may  well  attract  ad 
miration,  and  the  people  who  think  him  like 
me  must  have  formed  complimentary  ideas  of 
my  appearance.  .  .  .  Our  church  was 
not  fully  attended  to-day,  the  families  have  to 
a  great  extent  left  town,  and  the  excitement, 
no  doubt,  kept  away  many  men.  Mr.  Minne- 
gerode  was  sick,  Bishop  Johns  preached  ex 
temporaneously,  and  his  address  was  fervent 
and  appropriate.  I  thought  him  more  elo 
quent  than  on  any  former  occasion.  The 
resemblance  to  Mr.  Clay  is  probably  acci 
dental." 

•  •  •  •  • 

Not  receiving  a  definite  reply  to  a  letter 
sent  to  General  Johnston  by  his  aide-de 
camp,  Colonel  G.  W.  C.  Lee,  Mr.  Davis 
rode  out  to  visit  him  at  his  headquarters,  and 
was  surprised,  in  the  surburbs  of  Richmond, 
the  other  side  of  Gillis's  Creek,  to  meet  a  por 
tion  of  the  light  artillery,  and  to  learn  that  the 
whole  army  had  crossed  the  Chickahominy. 

General  Johnston  explained  that  he  thought 
the  water  of  the  Chickahominy  would  prove 


THE    GUN-BOATS  IN    THE    JAMES  RIVER.     275 

injurious  to  his  troops,  and  had  therefore  di 
rected  them  to  cross,  and  to  halt  at  the  first 
good  water. 

General  McClellan  following  up  John 
ston's  movement,  drew  his  lines  nearer  to  the 
Confederate  capital.  His  army  at  this  time 
numbered,  present  and  absent,  156,838  ;  ef 
fectives  present  105,825.  The  army  under 
Johnston,  62,696  effectives. 

On  May  iQth,  my  husband  again  wrote  to 
me  as  follows  : 

"  .  ..I  have  but  a  moment  to  say  that 
I  am  well  as  usual,  and  busier  than  hereto 
fore.  General  Johnston  has  brought  his 
army  back  to  the  suburbs  of  Richmond,  and 
I  have  been  waiting  all  day  for  him  to  com 
municate  his  plans." 

"  The  enemy  have  pushed  out  their  pick 
ets,  and  have  found  out  his  movements  while 
concealing  their  own." 

"  We  are  uncertain  of  everything,  except 
that  a  battle  must  be  near  at  hand." 

Under  date  of  May  28th  Mr.  Davis  wrote 
me  as  follows : 

" .  .  .  We  are  steadily  developing  for 
a  great  battle,  and  under  God's  favor  I  trust 
for  a  decisive  victory.  The  enemy  are  pre 
paring  to  concentrate  in  advance  by  regular 
approaches  ;  we  must  attack  him  in  motion, 
and  trust  to  the  valor  of  our  troops  for  sue- 


276  JEFFERSON  DAVIS. 

cess.  It  saddens  me  to  feel  how  many  a 
mother,  wife,  and  child  will  be  made  to  grieve 
in  bitterness,  but  what  is  there  worse  than 
submission  to  such  brutal  tyranny  as  now 
holds  sway  over  New  Orleans.  .  .  .  " 

Continuing  Mr.  Davis's  narrative  in  refer 
ence  to  the  operations  around  Richmond  at 
this  time,  he  said  : 

"  Seeing  no  preparation  to  keep  the  enemy 
at  a  distance,  and  kept  in  ignorance  of  any 
plan  for  such  purpose,  I  sent  for  General  R. 
E.  Lee,  then  at  Richmond,  in  general  charge 
of  army  operations,  and  told  him  why  and  how 
I  was  dissatisfied  with  the  condition  of  affairs. 

"  He  asked  me  what  I  thought  it  was 
proper  to  do.  Recurring  to  a  conversation 
held  about  the  time  we  had  together  visited 
General  Johnston,  I  answered  that  McClellan 
should  be  attacked  on  the  other  side  of  the 
Chickahominy  before  he  matured  his  prepa 
rations  for  a  siege  of  Richmond.  To  this  he 
promptly  assented,  as  I  anticipated  he  would, 
for  I  knew  it  had  been  his  own  opinion.  He 
then  said :  '  General  Johnston  should  of 
course  advise  you  of  what  he  expects  or  pro 
poses  to  do.  Let  me  go  and  see  him,  and 
defer  this  discussion  until  I  return/ 

" .  .  .  When  General  Lee  came  back, 
he  told  me  that  General  Johnston  proposed, 
on  the  next  Thursday,  to  move  against  the 


THE   GUN-BOATS  IN  THE   JAMES  RIVER.     277 

enemy  as  follows  :  General  A.  P.  Hill  was  to 
move  down  on  the  right  flank  and  rear  of  the 
enemy.  General  G.  W.  Smith,  as  soon  as 
Hill's  guns  opened,  was  to  -cross  the  Chick- 
ahominy  at  the  Meadow  Bridge,  attack  the 
enemy  in  flank,  and  by  the  conjunction  of  the 
two  it  was  expected  to  double  him  up.  Then 
Longstreet  was  to  come  on  the  Mechanics- 
ville  Bridge  and  attack  him  in  front.  From 
this  plan  the  best  results  were  hoped  by  both 
of  us. 

"  On  the  morning  of  the  day  proposed,  I 
hastily  despatched  my  office  business  and 
rode  out  toward  the  Meadow  Bridge  to  see 
the  action  commence.  On  the  road  I  found 
Smith's  division  halted  and  the  men  dis 
persed  in  the  woods.  Looking  for  someone 
from  whom  I  could  get  information,  I  finally 
saw  General  Hood,  and  asked  him  the  meaning 
of  what  I  saw.  He  told  me  he  did  not  know 
anything  more  than  that  they  had  been  halted. 
I  asked  him  where  General  Smith  was  ;  he 
said  he  believed  he  had  gone  to  a  farm-house 
in  the  rear,  adding  that  he  thought  he  was  ill. 

"  Riding  on  the  bluff  which  overlooks  the 
Meadow  Bridge,  I  asked  Colonel  Anderson, 
posted  there  in  observation,  whether  he  had 
seen  anything  of  the  enemy  in  his  front.  He 
said  that  he  had  seen  only  two  mounted  men 
across  the  bridge,  and  a  small  party  of  infan- 


278  JEFFERSON  DAVIS. 

try  on  the  other  side  of  the  river,  some  dis 
tance  below,  both  of  whom,  he  said,  he  could 
show  me  if  I  would  go  with  him  into  the 
garden  back  of  the  house.  There,  by  the  use 
of  a  powerful  glass,  were  distinctly  visible  two 
cavalry  videttes  at  the  further  end  of  the 
bridge,  and  a  squad  of  infantry  lower  down 
the  river,  who  had  covered  themselves  with  a 
screen  of  green  boughs.  The  Colonel  in 
formed  me  that  he  had  not  heard  Hill's  guns  ; 
it  was,  therefore,  supposed  he  had  not  ad 
vanced.  I  then  rode  down  the  bank  of  the 
river,  followed  by  a  cavalcade  of  sight-seers, 
who  I  supposed  had  been  attracted  by  the 
expectation  of  a  battle.  The  little  squad  of 
infantry,  about  fifteen  in  number,  as  we  ap 
proached,  fled  over  the  bridge,  and  were  lost 
to  sight. 

"  Near  to  the  Mechanicsville  Bridge  I 
found  General  Howell  Cobb,  commanding  the 
support  of  a  battery  of  artillery.  He  pointed 
out  to  me  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  river  the 
only  enemy  he  had  seen,  and  which  was 
evidently  a  light  battery.  Riding  on  to  the 
main  road  which  led  to  the  Mechanicsville 
Bridge,  I  found  General  Longstreet,  walking 
to  and  fro  in  an  impatient,  it  might  be  said 
fretful,  manner.  Before  speaking  to  him,  he 
said  his  division  had  been  under  arms  all  day 
waiting  for  orders  to  advance,  and  that  the 


THE   GUN-BOATS  IN   THE   JAMES  RIVER.     279 

day  was  now  so  far  spent  that  he  did  not  know 
what  was  the  matter.  I  afterward  learned 
from  General  Smith  that  he  had  received  in 
formation  from  a  citizen  that  the  "  Beaver-dam 
Creek  presented  an  impassable  barrier,  and 
that  he  had  thus  fortunately  been  saved  from 
a  disaster."  Thus  ended  the  offensive-de 
fensive  programme  from  which  Lee  expected 
much,  #nd  of  which  I  was  hopeful." 

On  the  morning"  of  May  3ist  my  husband 
wrote  me  as  follows  : 

".  .  „  I  packed  some  valuable  books 
and  the  sword  I  wore  for  many  years,  to 
gether  with  the  pistols  used  at  Monterey 
and  Buena  Vista,  and  my  old  dressing-case. 
These  articles  will  have  a  value  to  the  boys 
in  after-time,  and  to  you  now.  .  .  .  They 
will  probably  go  forward  to-day. 

"  Thank  you  for  congratulations  on  success 
of  Jackson.  Had  the  movement  been  made 
when  I  first  proposed  it,  the  effect  would  have 
been  more  important. 

"  In  that  night's  long  conference  it  was  re 
garded  impossible.  We  have  not  made  any 
balloon  discoveries.  The  only  case  in  which 
much  is  to  be  expected  from  such  means  will  be 
when  large  masses  of  troops  are  in  motion.* 

*  A  balloon  called  "the  Intrepid,"  containing  two  people,  ascend 
ed  from  Richmond  and  hung  over  McClellan's  camp  for  two  hours, 
about  the  end  of  July,  1862. 


DAV1$. 

"  Yesterday  morning  I  thought  we  would 
engage  the  enemy,  reported  to  be  in  large 
force  on  the  Upper  Chickahominy.  The  re 
port  was  incorrect,  as  I  verified  in  the  after 
noon  by  a  long  ride  in  that  locality. 

"  I  saw  nothing  more  than  occasional  cav 
alry  videttes,  and  some  pickets  with  field  ar 
tillery. 

"  General  Lee  rises  to  the  occasion  ».  .  . 
and  seems  to  be  equal  to  the  conception.  I 
hope  others  will  develop  capacity  in  execu 
tion.  .  .  .  If  we  fight  and  are  victorious, 
we  can  all  soon  meet  again.  If  the  enemy  re 
treat  to  protect  Washington,  of  which  there 
are  vague  reports,  I  can  probably  visit  you." 

In  the  meantime  the  enemy  moved  up,  and 
finding  the  crossing  at  Bottom  Bridge  unde 
fended,  on  the  25th  threw  a  corps  across  the 
Chickahominy. 

He  afterward  added  another  corps,  and 
commenced  fortifying  a  line  to  Seven  Pines. 

Mr.  Davis  continued  his  narration  in  "  The 
Rise  and  Fall  "  of  the  Confederacy  : 

"  In  the  forenoon  of  May  3ist,  riding  out 
on  the  New  Bridge  road,  I  heard  firing  in  the 
direction  of  Seven  Pines.  As  I  drew  nearer, 
I  saw  General  Whiting,  with  part  of  General 
Smith's  division,  file  into  the  road  in  front  of 
me  ;  at  the  same  time  I  saw  General  John 
ston  ride  across  the  field  from  a  house  before 


GUN -SO  ATS  IN  THE   JAMES  RIVE&.    iSi 

which  General  Lee's  horse  was  standing.  I 
turned  down  to  the  house,  and  asked  Gene 
ral  Lee  what  the  musketry  firing  meant.  He 
replied  by  asking  whether  I  had  heard  it,  and 
was  answered  in  the  affirmative  ;  he  said  he 
had  been  under  that  impression  himself,  but 
General  Johnston  had  assured  him  that  it 
could  be  nothing  more  than  an  artillery  duel. 
It  is  scarcely  necessary  to  add  that  neither  of 
us  had  been  advised  of  a  design  to  attack  the 
enemy  that  day. 

"  We  then  walked  out  to  the  rear  of  the 
house  to  listen,  and  were  satisfied  that  an  ac 
tion,  or  at  least  a  severe  skirmish,  must  be 
going  on. 

"  General  Johnston  states  in  his  report  that 
the  condition  of  the  air  was  peculiarly  iinfav- 
orable  to  the  transmission  of  sound. 

"  General  Lee  and  myself  then  rode  to  the 
field  of  battle,  which  may  be  briefly  described 
as  follows  : 

"The  Chickahominy  flowing  in  front,  is  a 
deep,  sluggish,  and  narrow  river,  bordered  by 
marshes  and  covered  with  tangled  wood. 
The  line  of  battle  extended  along  the  Nine- 
mile  road,  across  the  York  River  railroad, 
and  Williamsburg  stage-road.  The  enemy 
had  constructed  redoubts,  with  long  lines  of 
rifle-pits  covered  by  abatis,  from  below  Bot 
tom  Bridge  to  within  less  than  two  miles  of 


282  EFFgRSOtf  DAVIS. 


New  Bridge,  and  had  constructed  bridges  to 
connect  his  forces  on  the  north  and  south 
sides  of  the  Chickahominy.  The  left  of  his 
forces,  on  the  south  side,  was  thrown  forward 
from  the  river;  the  right  was  on  its  bank,  and 
covered  by  its  slope.  Our  main  force  was  on 
the  right  flank  of  our  position,  extending  on 
both  sides  of  the  Williamsburg  road,  near  to 
its  intersection  with  the  Nine-mile  road.  The 
wing  consisted  of  Hill's,  Huger's,  and  Long- 
street's  divisions,  with  light  batteries,  and  a 
small  force  of  cavalry  ;  the  division  of  General 
G.  W.  Smith,  less  Hood's  brigade  ordered  to 
the  right,  formed  the  left  wing,  and  its  posi 
tion  was  on  the  Nine-mile  road.  There  were 
small  tracts  of  cleared  land,  but  most  of  the 
ground  was  wooded,  and  much  of  it  so  cov 
ered  with  water  as  to  seriously  embarrass  the 
movements  of  troops. 

"  When  General  Lee  and  I,  riding  down 
the  Nine-mile  road,  reached  the  left  of  our 
line,  we  found  the  troops  hotly  engaged. 
Our  men  had  driven  the  enemy  from  his  ad 
vanced  encampment,  and  he  ha*d  fallen  back 
behind  an  open  field  to  the  bank  of  the  river, 
where,  in  a  dense  wood,  was  concealed  an  in 
fantry  line,  with  artillery  in  position.  Soon 
after  our  arrival,  General  Johnston,  who  had 
gone  farther  to  the  right,  where  the  conflict 
was  expected,  and  whither  reinforcement 


THE   GUN-BOATS  IN  THE    JAMES  RIVER.     283 

from  the  left  was  marching1,  was  brought  back 
severely  wounded,  and,  as  soon  as  an  ambu 
lance  could  be  obtained,  was  removed  from 
the  field. 

"  Our  troops  on  the  left  made  vigorous 
assaults  under  most  disadvantageous  circum- 

o 

stances.  They  made  several  gallant  attempts 
to  carry  the  enemy's  position,  but  were  each 
time  repulsed  with  heavy  loss. 

"  After  a  personal  reconnoissance  on  the 
left  of  the  open  in  our  front,  I  sent  one,  then 
another,  and  another  courier  to  General  Ma- 
gruder,  directing  him  to  send  a  force  down 
by  the  wooded  path,  just  under  the  bluff,  to 
attack  the  enemy  in  flank  and  reverse.  Im 
patient  of  delay,  I  had  started  to  see  Gene 
ral  Magruder,  when  I  met  the  third  courier, 
who  said  he  had  not  found  General  Magruder, 
but  had  delivered  the  message  to  Brigadier- 
General  Griffith,  who  was  moving  by  the 
path  designated  to  make  the  attack. 

"  On  returning  to  the  field,  I  found  that  the 
attack  in  front  had  ceased  ;  it  was,  therefore, 
too  late  for  a  single  brigade  to  effect  anything 
against  the  large  force  of  the  enemy,  and 
messengers  were  sent  through  the  woods  to 
direct  General  Griffith  to  go  back. 

"  The  heavy  rain  during  the  night  of  the 
3Oth  had  swollen  the  Chickahominy ;  it  was 
rising  when  the  battle  of  Seven  Pines  was 


284  JEFFERSON  DA  VIS. 

fought ;  but  had  not  reached  such  height  as 
to  prevent  the  enemy  from  using  his  bridges  ; 
consequently,  General  Sumner,  during  the 
engagement,  brought  over  his  corps  as  a  re 
inforcement.  He  was  on  the  north  side  of 
the  river,  had  built  two  bridges  to  connect 
with  the  south  side,  and,  though  their  cover 
ings  were  loosened  by  the  upward  pressure 
of  the  rising  water,  they  were  not  yet  impas 
sable.  With  the  true  instinct  of  the  soldier 
to  march  upon  fire,  when  the  sound  of  the 
battle  reached  him,  he  formed  his  corps  and 
stood  under  arms  waiting  for  an  order  to  ad 
vance.  He  came  too  soon  for  us,  and,  but  for 
his  forethought  and  promptitude,  he  would 
have  arrived  too  late  for  his  friends.  It  may 
be  granted  that  his  presence  saved  the  left 
wing  of  the  Federal  army  from  defeat. 

"  As  we  had  permitted  the  enemy  to  fortify 
before  our  attack,  it  would  have  been  better 
to  have  waited  another  day,  until  the  bridges 
would  have  been  rendered  impassable  by  the 
rise  of  the  river. 

"  General  Lee  at  nightfall  gave  instructions 
to  General  Smith,  the  senior  officer  on  that 
part  of  the  battle-field,  and  left  with  me  to 
return  to  Richmond." 

Mr.  Davis  had  a  personal  observation  of 
the  left  of  the  line  of  battle  only.  For  the 
operations  on  the  right  he  referred  to  the 


THE    GUN-BOATS  IN    THE    JAMES  RIVER.     285 

report  of  General  Longstreet,  who  was  in 
chief  command.  From  this  report,  published 
by  the  War  Department  at  Washington,  the 
following  extract  is  taken  : 

"  Agreeably  to  verbal  instructions  from  the 
Commanding  General,  the  division  of  Major- 
General  D.  H.  Hill  was,  on  the  morning  of 
the  3  ist  ultimo  formed  at  an  early  hour  on 
the  Williamsburg  road,  as  the  column  of 
attack  upon  the  enemy's  front  on  that  road. 
.  .  .  .  The  division  of  Major-General 
Huger  was  intended  to  make  a  strong  flank 
movement  around  the  left  of  the  enemy's 
position,  and  attack  him  in  the  rear  of  that 
flank.  .  .  .  After  waiting  some  six  hours 
for  these  troops  to  get  into  position,  I 
determined  to  move  forward  without  regard 
to  them,  and  gave  orders  to  that  effect  to 
Major-General  D.  H.  Hill.  The  forward 
movement  began  about  two  o'clock,  and  our 
skirmishers  soon  became  engaged  with  those 
of  the  enemy.  The  entire  division  of  General 
Hill  became  engaged  about  three  o'clock,  and 
drove  the  enemy  back,  gaining  possession  of 
his  abatis  and  part  of  his  intrenched  camp, 
General  Rodes,  by  a  movement  to  the  right, 
driving  in  the  enemy's  left.  The  only  rein 
forcements  on  the  field,  in  hand,  were  my 
own  brigades,  of  which  Anderson's,  Wilcox's, 
and  Kemper's  were  put  in  by  the  front  on 


286  JEFFERSON  DAVIS. 

the  Williamsburg  road,  and  Colston's  and 
Pryor's  by  my  right  flank.  At  the  same  time 
the  decided  and  gallant  attack  made  by  the 
other  brigades  gained  entire  possession  of 
the  enemy's  position,  with  his  artillery,  camp- 
equipage,  etc.  Anderson's  brigade,  under 
Colonel  Jenkins,  pressing  forward  rapidly, 
continued  to  drive  the  enemy  till  nightfall. 
.  .  .  The  conduct  of  the  attack  was  left 
entirely  to  Major-General  Hill.  The  entire 
success  of  the  affair  is  sufficient  evidence  of 
his  ability,  courage,  and  skill." 

In  reference  to  the  failure  of  General 
Huger  to  make  the  attack  expected  of  him, 
Mr.  Davis  said  :  "  Some  explanation  should 
be  given  of  an  apparent  dilatoriness  on  the 
part  of  that  veteran  soldier,  who,  after  long 
and  faithful  service,  now  fills  an  honored 
grave. 

"  It  will  be  remembered  that  General 
Huger  was  to  move  by  the  Charles  City  road, 
so  as  to  turn  the  left  of  the  enemy  and  attack 
him  in  flank.  The  extraordinary  rain  of  the 
previous  night  had  swollen  every  rivulet  to 
the  dimensions  of  a  stream,  and  the  route 
prescribed  to  General  Huger  was  one  espec 
ially  affected  by  that  heavy  rain,  as  it  led  to 
the  head  of  the  White-Oak  swamp.  The 
bridge  over  the  stream  flowing  into  that 
swamp  had  been  carried  away,  and  the  alter- 


THE   GUN-BOATS  IN   THE   JAMES  RIVER.     287 

natives  presented  to  him  was  to  rebuild  the 
bridge  or  leave  his  artillery.  He  chose  the 
former,  which  involved  the  delay  that  has 
subjected  him  to  criticism.  If  any  should 
think  an  excuse  necessary  to  justify  this  de 
cision,  they  are  remanded  to  the  accepted 
military  maxim,  that  the  march  must  never  be 
so  hurried  as  to  arrive  unfit  for  service  ;  and, 
also,  that  they  may  be  reminded  that  Huger's 
specialty  was  artillery,  he  being  the  officer 
who  commanded  the  siege-guns  with  which 
General  Scott  marched  from  Vera  Cruz  to 
the  City  of  Mexico." 

General  Rodes,  alluding  to  the  difficulty  he 
had  with  his  infantry  in  getting  on  the  field, 
said:  "  The  progress  of  the  brigade  was 
delayed  by  the  washing  away  of  the  bridge, 
which  forced  the  men  to  wade  in  water  waist- 
deep,  and  a  large  number  were  entirely  sub 
merged.  .  .-  .  The  ground  was  covered 
with  thick  undergrowth,  and  the  soil  very 
marshy.  It  was  with  great  difficulty  that 
either  horses  or  men  could  get  over  it- 
guided  as  they  were  only  by  the  firing  in 
front.  Only  five  companies  of  the  Fifth  Ala 
bama  emerged  from  the  woods  under  a  heavy 
fire  of  artillery  and  musketry." 

General  Huger's  line  of  march  was  nearer 
to  the  swamp,  and  the  impediments  conse 
quently  greater  than  where  General  Rodes 


288  JEFFERSON  DAVIS. 

found  the  route  so  difficult  as  to  be  dangerous 
even  to  infantry. 

On  the  next  day,  June  ist,  the  enemy  en 
deavored  to  retake  the  works  Hill's  division 
had  captured  the  day  before. 

General  Longstreet  was  ordered  to  attack 
on  the  morning  of  the  3ist.  The  division  of 
General  D.  H.  Hill  drove  the  enemy  steadily 
back  until  nightfall.  Our  troops  on  the  left 
did  not  co-operate  with  General  Hill.  If  the 
battle  was  preconceived,  why  did  they  not 
come  to  his  aid  ?  Why  were  they  so  far  re 
moved  as  not  to  hear  the  first  guns  ? 

General  G.  W.  Smith  seems  not  to  have 
been  informed  of  the  Federal  works  in  his 
front,  as  he  says  in  his  report : 

"  The  enemy  was  driven,  but  they  were  re 
inforced  and  held  a  strong  position — either 
fortified  or  naturally  strong.  .  .'•  .  Fire 
came  from  a  low  bank  of  an  old  ditch,  either 
drain  or  foundation  of  a  fence  very  near  the 
surface  of  the  ground." 

General  Smith  continued :  "  After  leaving 
the  wood,  I  heard  for  the  first  time  that  Gen 
eral  Johnston  had  been  severely  wounded, 
and  compelled  to  leave  the  field.  This  un 
fortunate  casualty  placed  me  in  command  of 
the  Army  of  Northern  Virginia.  .  '.  .  The 
next  morning  I  was  compelled  by  illness  to 
leave  the  field." 


THE   GUN-BOATS  IN   THE    JAMES  RIVER.     289 

Mr.  Davis  wrote  : 

"  On  the  morning  of  June  ist,  I  rode  out 
toward  the  position  where  General  Smith 
had  been  left  on  the  previous  night,  and 
where  I  learned  from  General  Lee  that  he 
would  remain.  After  turning  into  the  Nine- 
mile  road,  and  before  reaching  that  position, 
I  was  hailed  by  General  Whiting,  who  saw 
me  at  a  distance,  and  ran  toward  the  road  to 
stop  me.  He  told  me  I  was  riding  into  the 
position  of  the  enemy,  who  had  advanced  on 
the  withdrawal  of  our  troops,  and  there,  point 
ing,  he  said,  '  is  a  battery  which  I  am  sur 
prised  has  not  fired  on  you.'  I  asked  where 
our  troops  were.  He  said  his  was  the  ad 
vance,  and  the  others  behind  him.  He  also 
told  me  that  General  Smith  was  at  the  house 
which  had  been  his  (Whiting's)  headquar 
ters,  and  I  rode  there  to  see  him.  To  relieve 
both  him  and  General  Lee  from  any  embar 
rassment,  I  preferred  to  make  the  announce 
ment  of  General  Lee's  assignment  to  com 
mand  previous  to  his  arrival. 

"  After  General  Lee  arrived,  I  took  leave, 
and  being  subsequently  joined  by  him,  we 
rode  together  to  the  Williamsburg  road, 
where  we  found  General  Longstreet,  his 
command  being  in  front,  and  then  engaged 
with  the  enemy  on  the  field  of  the  previous 

day's  combat. 

VOL.  II. — 19 


290  JEFFERSON  DAVIS. 

"  On  the  morning  of  June  ist,  the  army  was 
withdrawn  to  its  old  position  in  front  of  Rich 
mond. 

"  By  official  reports  our  loss,  '  killed  wound 
ed,  and  missing,"  was  6,804;  °f  which  4,851 
were  in  Longstreet's  command  on  the  right, 
and  1,233  m  Smith's  command  on  the  left. 
On  the  right  we  captured  10  pieces  of  artil 
lery,  4  flags,  a  large  amount  of  camp-equip 
age,  and  more  than  1,000  prisoners. 

"  Our  aggregate  of  both  wings  was  about 
40,500.  The  enemy's  37,936,  until  Sumner's 
corps  crossed  the  Chickahominy,  when  the 
enemy's  aggregate  in  excess  of  ours  was  in 
round  numbers  16,000. 

"General  R.  E.  Lee  was  now  in  immediate 
command,  and  thenceforward  directed  the 
movements  of  the  army  in  front  of  Richmond. 
Laborious  and  exact  in  details,  as  he  was  vigi 
lant  and  comprehensive  in  grand  strategy, 
a  power,  with  which  the  public  had  not 
credited  him,  soon  became  manifest  in  all 
that  makes  an  army  a  rapid,  accurate,  com 
pact  machine,  with  responsive  motion  in  all 
its  parts.  I  extract  the  following  sentence 
from  a  letter  from  the  late  Colonel  R.  H. 
Chilton,  Adjutant  and  Inspector-General  of 
the  Army  of  the  Confederacy,  because  of  his 
special  knowledge  of  the  subject  : 

"  '  I   consider  General  Lee's  exhibition   of 


THE    GUN-BOATS  IN   THE   JAMES  RIVER.     291 

grand  and  administrative  talents  and  indomit 
able  energy,  in  bringing  up  that  army  in  so 
short  a  time  to  that  state  of  discipline  which 
maintained  aggregation  through  those  terrible 
seven  days  fights  around  Richmond,  as  prob 
ably  his  grandest  achievement.'  ' 

On  June  2d  *  and  3d  my  husband  wrote 
me  the  following  letters  : 

"  .  .  .  On  Saturday  we  had  a  severe 
battle  and  suffered  severely  in  attacking  the 
enemy's  intrenchments,  of  which  our  Generals 
were  poorly  informed.  Some  of  them,  and 
those  most  formidable,  were  found  by  receiv 
ing  their  fire.  Our  troops  behaved  most 
gallantly,  drove  the  enemy  out  of  their  en 
campments,  captured  their  batteries,  carried 
their  advanced  redoubts,  and  marched  for 
ward  under  fire  more  heavy  than  I  had  ever 
previously  witnessed.  Our  loss  was  heavy, 
that  of  the  enemy  unknown.  General  J.  E. 
Johnston  is  severely  wounded.  The  poor 


*  June  2,  1862,  the  President  addressed  a  letter  of  thanks  "To 
the  Army  of  Richmond." 

"At  a  part  of  your  operations  it  was  my  fortune  to  be  present. 
On  no  other  occasion  have  I  witnessed  more  of  calmness  and  good 
order  than  you  exhibited  while  advancing  into  the  very  jaws  of 
death,  and  nothing  could  exceed  the  prowess  with  which  you  closed 
upon  the  enemy  when  a  sheet  of  fire  was  blazing  in  your  faces. 
.  ii-  .  You  are  fighting  for  all  that  is  dearest  to  men  ;  and  though 
opposed  to  a  foe  who  disregards  many  of  the  usages  of  civilized  war, 
your  humanity  to  the  wounded  and  the  prisoners  was  the  fit  and 
crowning  glory  to  your  valor." 


292  JEFFERSON  DA  VIS. 

fellow  bore  his  suffering  most  heroically. 
When  he  was  about  to  be  put  into  the  ambu 
lance  to  be  removed  from  the  field,  I  dis 
mounted  to  speak  to  him ;  he  opened  his 
eyes,  smiled,  and  gave  me  his  hand,  said  he 
did  not  know  how  seriously  he  was  hurt,  but 
feared  a  fragment  of  shell  had  injured  his 
spine.  It  was  probably  a  shell  loaded  with 
musket-balls,  as  there  appears  to  be  a  wound 
of  a  ball  in  his  shoulder  ranging  down  toward 
the  lungs.  I  saw  him  yesterday  evening  ;  his 
breathing  was  labored,  but  he  was  free  from 
fever  and  seemed  unshaken  in  his  nervous  sys 
tem.  Mrs.  Johnston  is  deeply  distressed  and 
very  watchful.  They  are  at  Mr.  Crenshaw's 
house,  on  Church  Hill.  I  offered  to  share 
our  house  with  them,  but  his  staff  obtained  a 
whole  house  and  seemed  to  desire  such  ar 
rangement.  General  Lee  is  in  the  field,  com 
manding.  General  G.  W.  Smith  has  come  in 
this  morning,  sick — his  old  disease,  it  is  said. 
"  Yesterday  we  had  some  heavy  skirmish 
ing,  and  increased  our  stock  of  prisoners,  but 
no  important  result  was  gained.  Unaccount 
able  delays  in  bringing  some  of  our  troops  in 
to  action  prevented  us  from  gaining  a  decisive 
victory  on  Saturday.  The  opportunity  being 
lost,  we  must  try  to  find  another.  The  same 
point  and  manner  of  attack  would  not  succeed 
if  again  attempted. 


THE    GUN-BOATS  IN   THE    JAMES  RIVER.     293 

"  God- will,  I  trust,  give  us  wisdom  to  see, 
and  valor  to  execute,  the  measures  necessary 
to  vindicate  the  just  cause.'' 

"  RICHMOND,  VA.,  June  3,  1862. 

".  *  *  I  cannot  telegraph  to  you  of  our 
military  operations  without  attracting  atten 
tion  and  exciting  speculation  which  it  is  desir 
able  to  avoid.  The  events  of  the  last  few 
days  have  not  varied  our  condition  in  any 
decisive  manner,  and  you  have  seen  enough 
of  rumor  to  teach  you  to  reject  babbling. 

"  General  Johnston  is  improving,  and 
though  his  confinement  must  be  long,  it  is 
confidently  believed  that  his  wounds  will  not 
prove  fatal.  General  Smith  is  sick,  a  return 
of  his  former  disease,  superinduced,  it  is  said, 
by  loss  of  sleep. 

"  The  movements  of  the  enemy  are  slow 
and  well  concealed  ;  our  scouts  will,  I  hope, 
succeed  better  hereafter,  than  heretofore,  in 
obtaining  intelligence. 

11  The  Yankees  had  been  eight  or  ten  days 
fortifying  the  position  in  which  we  attacked 
them  on  Saturday^  and  the  first  intimation  I 
had  of  their  having  slept  on  this  side  of  the 
Chickahominy,  was  after  I  had  gone  into  an 
encampment  from  which  they  had  been  driven. 

"  The  ignorance  of  their  works  caused  much 
of  the  loss  we  suffered.  .  .  . 


294  JEFFERSON  DAVIS. 

"  If  the  Mississippi  troops,  lying  in  camp 
when  not  retreating  under  Beauregard,  were 
at  home,  they  would  probably  keep  a  section 
of  the  river  free  for  our  use,  and  closed  against 
Yankee  transports. 

"  It  is  hard  to  see  incompetence  losing  op 
portunity  and  wasting  hard-gotten  means,  but 
harder  still  to  bear  is  the  knowledge  that 
there  is  no  available  remedy.  I  cultivate  hope 
and  patience,  and  trust  to  the  blunders  of  our 
enemy  and  the  gallantry  of  our  troops  for  ul 
timate  success. 

"  Tell  Helen  that  Captain  Keary  has  been 
in  the  column  most  distinguished  of  late. 
Jackson  is  probably  now  marching 
toward  this  side  of  the  Blue  Ridge." 


CHAPTER   XXVII. 

JACKSON   IN  THE   VALLEY. 

ON  May  8th,  General  Jackson  formed  a 
junction  in  the  valley  with  General  Edward 
Johnston. 

On  May  25th  Generals  Jackson,  Edward 
Johnston,  and  Ewell,  drove  the  enemy  across 
the  Potomac  into  Maryland.  Two  thousand 
prisoners  were  taken.  General  Banks,  the 
commander-in-chief,  said,  "  there  never  were 
more  grateful  hearts  in  the  same  number  of 
men  than  when,  at  midday  on  the  26th,  we 
stood  on  the  opposite  shore." 

General  Geary  moved  to  Manassas  Junc 
tion,  burned  his  tents  and  destroyed  a  quan 
tity  of  arms,  and  General  Duryea  telegraphed 
to  Washington  for  aid.  A  panic  ensued  in 
Washington,  and  the  Secretary  of  War  issued 
a  call  to  the  Governors  of  the  "  loyal"  States 
"for  militia  to  defend  the  city." 

Jackson  pressed  eagerly  on  to  disperse 
the  garrisons  at  Charlestown  and  Harper's 
Ferry. 

General  Winder's  brigade  drove  the  ene- 


296  JEFFERSON  DAVIS. 

my  in  disorder  from  Charlestown  toward  the 
Potomac. 

When  in  the  vicinity  of  Harper's  Ferry, 
General  Jackson,  with  an  effective  force  of 
about  fifteen  thousand  men,  much  less  than 
either  of  the  two  armies  under  Shields  and 
Fremont  that  were  marching"  to  intercept 
him,  by  a  forced  march,  arrived  on  the  night 
of  May  3ist  at  Strasburg,  and  learned  that 
General  Fremont's  advance  was  in  the  imme 
diate  vicinity. 

General  Ewell  held  Fremont  in  check  with 
so  little  difficulty  that  General  Taylor  de 
scribed  it  as  "  offering  a  temptation  to  make 
a  serious  attack  upon  Fremont's  whole  army." 

Ashby,  vigilant  and  enterprising,  soon  per 
ceived  this,  and  pointing  it  out  to  Ewell,  asked 
for  infantry  to  attack  the  pursuing  party  so  as 
to  destroy  them  before  their  supports  could 
get  up.  This  force  was  given  to  him,  and 
just  in  the  dusk  of  the  evening  Ashby  came 
upon  them  intrenched  behind  a  fence.  In  a 
moment  Ashby's  horse  was  shot  dead,  but 
jumping  to  his  feet  he  cried,  "Virginians, 
forward !  "  and  in  the  instant  fell  dead.  As  he 
fell  Colonel  Johnson  with  the  First  Maryland 
charged  and  swept  the  fence  clear,  and  killed 
and  wounded  most  of  the  routed  enemy ; 
they  proved  to  be  the  Pennsylvania  Buck- 
tails,  a  crack  battalion  under  Lieutenant- 


JACKSON  IN   THE    VALLEY.  297 

Colonel  Kane,  who  was  wounded  and  capt 
ured. 

Colonel  Johnson's  horse  was  killed,  shot  in 
three  places.  His  color-sergeant  and  three 
corporals  were  shot  down  in  instantaneous 
succession  at  the  colors,  but  Corporal  Shanks 
seized  them  and  bore  them  to  the  end. 

Two  days  afterward,  June  8th,  as  the  First 
Maryland  was  moving"  into  the  battle  of  Cross 
Keys  they  passed  General  Ewell.  He  said 
to  the  commanding  officer,  "  Colonel  Johnson, 
you  ought  to  affix  a  bucktail  to  your  colors 
as  a  trophy."  Whereupon  Colonel  Johnson 
took  a  bucktail  from  the  cap  of  one  of  the  men 
in  ranks  and  tied  it  to  the  color  lance  above 
the  colors,  where  it  was  carried  in  pride  and 
triumph  in  all  the  battles  of  the  regiment. 
After  the  battle  of  Port  Republic,  General 
Ewell  issued  the  following  order : 

"HEADQUARTERS  THIRD  DIVISION,  June  12,   1862. 

"  General  Order,  No.  30. 

"  In  commemoration  of  the  gallant  conduct 
of  the  First  Maryland  Regiment  on  June  6th, 
instant,  when  led  by  Colonel  Bradley  T.  John 
son,  they  drove  back  with  loss  the  Pennsylva 
nia  Bucktail  Rifles,  in  the  engagement  near 
Harrisonburgh,  Buckingham  County,  Vir 
ginia,  authority  is  given  to  have  one  of  the 
captured  bucktails  (the  insignium  of  the  Fed- 


298  JEFFERSON  DAVIS. 

eral  Regiment)   appended   to  the  color  staff 
of  the  First  Maryland  Regiment. 
"  By  order  of 

"  MAJOR- GENERAL  EWELL. 
. " JAMES  BARBOUR,  A.  A.   G." 

At  Crosskeys,  on  June  8th,  Jackson  de 
feated  Fremont,  and  on  the  Qth,  General 
Shields  at  Port  Republic.  With  such  eagle- 
like  swoop  he  had  descended  upon  each  army 
of  the  enemy,  that  his  name  had  come  to  in 
spire  terror.  It  was  believed  that  he  was 
about  to  come  down,  like  an  avalanche,  upon 
Washington,  with  a  vast  army. 

The  magnificently  equipped  armies  of  Mil- 
roy,  Banks,  Shields,  and  Fremont,  had  all 
melted  away  before  the  resistless  charges  of 
Jackson's  hard-fighting,  hard-marching,  rag 
ged  "  foot-cavalry,"  and  the  Valley  of  the 
Shenandoah  was  our  own  again. 

Jackson  went  into  camp  near  Port  Repub 
lic,*  where  the  valley  was  well  wooded,  and 
thus  closed  his  famous  valley  campaign  of 
1862. 

A  description  of  the  personal  appearance 
of  the  now  famous  "  Stonewall"  Jackson  may 
prove  of  interest  to  my  readers.  I  will  there 
fore  insert  the  interesting  account  given  by 
General  Dick  Taylor,  of  their  first  meeting. 

"  The  mounted  officer  who  had  been  sent 


JACKSON  IN   THE    VALLEY.  299 

out  in  advance,  pointed  out  a  figure  perched 
on  the  topmost  rail  of  a  fence  overlooking  the 
road  and  field,  and  said  it  was  Jackson.  Ap 
proaching,  I  saluted  and  declared  my  name 
and  rank,  and  waited  for  a  response.  Before 
this  came  I  had  time  to  see  a  pair  of  cavalry 
boots  covering  feet  of  immense  size,  a  mangy 
cap  with  vizor  drawn  low,  a  heavy,  dark 
beard,  and  weary  eyes — eyes  I  afterward  saw 
filled  with  intense  but  never  brilliant  light. 
A  low,  gentle  voice  inquired  the  road  and  dis 
tance  marched  that  day,  '  Keazle-town  road, 
six  and  twenty  miles/  '  You  seem  to  have 
no  stragglers.'  '  Never  allow  stragglers/ 
'  You  must  teach  my  people,  they  straggle 
badly/  A  bow  in  reply.  Just  then  my  Cre 
oles  started  their  band  and  a  waltz.  After  a 
contemplative  suck  of  a  lemon,  '  Thoughtless 
fellows  for  serious  work/  came  forth.  I  ex 
pressed  the  hope  that  the  work  would  be  not 
less  well  done  on  account  of  the  gayety.  A 
return  to  the  lemon  gave  me  an  opportunity 
to  retire.  Where  Jackson  got  his  lemons 
'  no  fellow  could  find  out/  but  he  was  rarely 
without  one." 

He  adds  : 

"  Ere  the  war  closed  the  valley  of  Virginia 
was  ravaged  with  a  cruelty  surpassing  that 
inflicted  on  the  Palatinate  two  hundred  years 
ago.  That  foul  deed  smirched  the  fame  of 


3oo  JEFFERSON  DAVIS. 

Louvois  and  Turenne,  and  public  opinion,  in 
what  has  been  deemed  a  ruder  age,  forced  an 
apology  from  the  '  Grand  Monarque.'  Yet 
we  have  seen  the  official  report  of  a  Federal 
General  wherein  are  recounted  the  many 
barns,  mills,  and  other  buildings  destroyed  ; 
concluding  with  the  assertion  that  '  A  crow 
flying  over  the  Valley  must  carry  his  own  ra 
tions/  In  the  opinion  of  the  admirers  of  the 
officer  making  this  report,  the  achievement, 
on  which  it  is  based,  ranks  with  Marengo. 
Moreover,  this  same  officer,  many  years  after 
the  close  of  the  war,  denounced  several  hun 
dred  thousands  of  his  fellow-citizens  as  '  ban 
ditti,'  and  solicited  permission  to  deal  with 
them  as  such.  May  we  not  well  ask  whether 
religion,  education,  science,  and  art  combined 
have  lessened  the  brutality  of  men  since  Wal- 
lenstein  and  Tilly  ?  " 


CHAPTER   XXVIII. 

MR.  DAVIS' S  LITERARY  PREFERENCES. 

IN  one  of  the  most  disheartening  periods  of 
the  War,  when  Norfolk  had  been  evacuated 
and  the  Virginia  destroyed,  he  came  home, 
about  seven  o'clock,  from  his  office,  staggered 
up  to  a  sofa  in  his  little  private  office,  and  laid 
down.  He  declined  dinner,  and  I  remained 
by  his  side,  anxious  and  afraid  to  ask  what 
was  the  trouble  which  so  oppressed  him.  In 
an  hour  or  two  he  told  me  that  the  weight  of 
responsibility  oppressed  him  so,  that  he  felt 
he  would  give  all  his  limbs  to  have  someone 
with  whom  he  could  share  it.  I  found  that 
nothing  comforted  him,  and  at  last  picked  up 
Lawrence's  "  Guy  Livingstone."  Knowing 
that  he  had  not  read  it,  I  thought  it  might  dis 
tract  his  mind.  The  descriptions  of  the  horses 
and  the  beau  sabreur  Guy  interested  him  at 
first,  in  a  vague  kind  of  way,  but  gradually 
he  became  absorbed,  and  I  read  on  until  the 
sky  became  gray  and  then  pink.  He  was  so 
wrapped  in  the  story  that  he  took  no  notice 
of  time.  When  Guy's  back  was  broken,  and 
when  Cyril  Brandon  in  the  interview  that  fol- 


302  JEFFERSON  DAVIS. 

lowed,  struck  him,  my  husband  rose  up,  in  the 
highest  state  of  excitement,  and  called  out, 
"  I  should  like  to  have  been  there  to  punish 
the  scoundrel  who  would  strike  a  helpless 
man  when  he  was  down." 

The  stream  of  light  literature  which  was 
then  just  gathering  into  a  flood,  had  flowed 
by  him,  with  very  few  exceptions,  from  1845 
until  1861,  and  he  had  read  none  of  it,  being 
too  busy  with  the  severer  studies  of  state 
craft  to  attach  any  importance  to  it. 

The  first  book  bearing  upon  anything  ex 
cept  governmental  problems  that  he  read  with 
eagerness,  was  the  introduction  to  Buckle's 
"  History  of  Civilization."  We  read  this  to 
gether,  and  he  seemed  to  greatly  enjoy  the 
stately  fragment. 

Novels  were  to  him  only  a  means  of  driving 
out  thoughts  of  more  serious  things.  For 
many  years  he  did  not  read  them  at  all,  and 
preferred  essays,  history,  biography,  or  gov 
ernmental  treatises  ;  though  he  remembered 
with  astonishing  clearness  Walter  Scott's 
poems  and  novels,  Cooper's  novels,  "The 
Children  of  the  Abbey,"  "The  Scottish 
Chiefs,"  Theodore  Hook's,  and  even  Miss 
Edgeworth's  books.  There  was  one  sporting 
novel,  which  came  out  in  short  instalments  in 
the  old  Spirit  of  the  Times,  called  "  The 
Handley  Cross  Hounds,"  in  which  he  took 


MR.    D AVIS' S  LITERARY  PREFERENCES.     303 

great  delight,  and  so  frequently  quoted  from 
it  that  his  brother  declared  he  would  cease  to 
take  the  paper  if  the  story  was  continued. 
One  special  jest  in  it  was  Jorax's  statement 
that  "  he  called  his  horse  Zerxes  and  his  little 
groom's  horse  Arterzerxes,  'cause  Bengy  rode 
arter  him." 

His  love  for  poetry  was  continuous  through 
out  his  life.  In  his  youth  he  memorized  a  large 
part  of  Moore's  "  Lalla  Rookh,"  Byron's 
"Childe  Harold,"  -The  Giaour,"  -Lara," 
"  English  Bards  and  Scotch  Reviewers,"  and 
especially  the  storm  in  "  Don  Juan,"  and  the 
"  Lady  of  the  Lake."  I  have  often  seen  him 
sitting  at  night,  and,  in  a  half-whisper,  re 
peating  :  • 

"  Time  rolls  its  course, 

The  race  of  yore  that  danced  our  infancy  upon  its  knee  ; 
How  are  they  blotted  from  the  things  that  be  ?  " 

His  voice  was  musical  in  the  extreme,  and 
added  charm  to  the  numberless  verses  he  had 
unconsciously  committed  to  memory  from  his 
favorite  poets. 

The  fight  at  Coilantogle's  Ford  was  another 
great  favorite  of  his.  Fitz-James's  interview 
with  Blanche  of  Devon  before  her  death,  and 
Douglas's  contempt  of  the  fickle  crowd  who 
deserted  him,  were  two  others.  His  recita 
tion  of  "  I  saw  Duncanon's  Widow  stand, 


304  JEFFERSON  DAVIS. 

her  husband's  dirk  gleamed  in  her  hand," 
gave  new  force  to  the  verse.  He  was  so  fa 
miliar  with  Burns,  that  at  almost  any  part  of 
his  poems  he  could,  when  given  a  line,  go  on 
to  repeat  those  contiguous  to  it,  especially 
"  The  Cotter's  Saturday  Night,"  and  the 
"  Advice  to  a  Young  Friend." 

In  after-years  Clough's  "  Poems  of  Patriot 
ism  "  were  great  favorites  with  him,  and  the 
edition  we  have  is  marked  all  through  with 
passages  which  he  admired.  Milton  to  him 
was  a  dreadful  bore,  while  he  was  very  famil 
iar  with  Virgil,  and  loved  to  quote  from  him. 
He  read  parts  of  Tennyson,  and  a  little  of 
Browning,  but  had  little  sympathy  with  the 
latter.  Of  heroic  songs,  he  had  memorized 
a  great  number,  and  quoted  them  in  intimate 
intercourse  with  his  friends  \vith  apposite- 
ness.  I  never  saw  anyone  who  could  resist 
the  charm  of  these  recitations,  when  he  was 
in  the  mood.  He  had  a  lovely,  high  baritone 
voice  in  song,  no  musical  culture,  but  a  fine 
ear ;  and  if  he  heard  a  song  rendered  accu 
rately  and  well,  sang  it  afterward  very 
sweetly.  One  of  his  favorites  was  Moore's 
"  Had  I  the  leisure  to  sigh  and  mourn,  Fan 
nie  dearest,  I'd  mourn  for  thee."  Another 
was,  "  Has  sorrow  thy  young  days  shaded ;" 
and  those  he  liked  the  best  were,  "  The  harp 
that  once  in  Tara's  halls,"  and  "  The  Minstrel 


MR.   DA  VIS'S  LITERARY  PREFERENCES.     305 

Boy."  These  were  the  fashionable  songs 
of  his  day,  and  his  retentive  memory  kept 
them  intact  as  long  as  he  lived.  His  voice 
never  lost  its  sweetness,  or  its  upper  notes, 
and,  when  feeling  very  well,  it  was  common 
for  him  to  sing  in  his  room  while  arranging 
his  papers.  There  was  an  Indian  song 
which  calmed  our  children  whenever  they 
were  obstreperous  : 

fi  Cora    wankee    shangmonee,    sheereerra" 
notty  hiee,  notty  hiee." 

The  translation  he  gave — of  so  much  as  I 
remember  —  was,  "  Friends,  a  man  walks 
through  your  village." 

He  was  at  one  time  able  to  speak  several 
Indian  languages  rather  fluently,  and  knew  a 
great  deal  of  the  Indian  traditions  and  cus 
toms,  and  was  a  more  than  ordinarily  good 
French  scholar,  but  had  learned  the  language 
simply  to  read  military  books,  and  pro 
nounced  it  as  though  it  were  English.  He 
was  also  a  very  good  Spanish  scholar,  and 
was  fond  of  reading  Spanish  literature  in  his 
younger  days.  He  was  also  a  fair  classical 
scholar,  and  never  forgot  his  Greek  and 
Latin. 

VOL.  II.— 20 


CHAPTER   XXIX. 

SEVEN  DAYS'  BATTLES  AROUND  RICHMOND. 

MR.  DAVIS  wrote  substantially  the  following 
account,  which  is  condensed.  For  the  full  text 
see  "  The  Rise  and  Fall  of  the  Confederate 
Government." 

"  When  riding  from  the  field  of  battle 
(Seven  Pines)  with  General  Robert  E.  Lee, 
on  the  previous  day,  I  informed  him  that  he 
would  be  assigned  to  the  command  of  the 
army,  vice  General  Johnston,  wounded.  On 
the  next  morning  he  proceeded  to  the  field 
and  took  command  of  the  troops.  During 
the  night  our  forces  on  the  left  had  fallen  back, 
but  those  on  the  right  remained  in  the  posi 
tion  they  had  gained,  and  some  combats  oc 
curred  there  between  the  opposing  forces. 

"  Our  army  was  in  line  in  front  of  Rich 
mond,  but  without  intrenchments.  General 
Lee  immediately  constructed  earthworks. 
They  were  necessarily  feeble  because  of  our 
deficiency  in  tools.  It  seemed  to  be  the  in 
tention  of  the  enemy  to  assail  Richmond  by 
regular  approaches,  which  our  numerical  in 
feriority  and  want  of  proper  utensils  made 


ROBERT  E. LEE 

GENERAL  IN  CHIEF. 


r_  V     -       .^*--^ --  —~^*^ LC_^-~1 
HENRY  A. WISE.     ( 
'"*BJ  "                 ~~T& 
OFFICERS  OF  THE  CONFEDERATE  ARMY  AND  NAVY. 


BATTLES  AROUND  RICHMOND.  307 

it  improbable  that  we  should  be  able  to  re 
sist.  ;;.;,' 

"  The  day  after  General  Lee  assumed  com 
mand,  I  was  riding  out  to  the  army,  and  I 
found  him  in  a  house  in  consultation  with  a 
number  of  his  general  officers.  Their  tone 
was  despondent,  and  one,  especially,  pointed 
out  the  inevitable  consequence  of  the  enemy's 
advance  by  throwing  out  boyaux,  and  con 
structing  successive  parallels.  I  expressed 
my  disappointment  at  their  views,  and  Gen 
eral  Lee  remarked  that  he  had,  before  I  came 
in,  said  very  much  the  same  thing.*  I  soon 
withdrew  and  rode  to  the  front,  where  Gen 
eral  Lee  joined  me,  and  entered  into  conver 
sation  as  to  what,  under  the  circumstances,  I 
thought  it  most  advisable  to  do.  I  answered, 
substantially,  that  I  knew  nothing  better  than 
the  plan  he  had  previously  explained  to  me, 
which  was  to  have  been  executed  by  General 
Johnston,  but  was  not  carried  out ;  that  the 
change  of  circumstances  would  make  one  mod 
ification  necessary — it  would  be  necessary  to 
bring  the  stronger  force  of  General  T.  J.  Jack- 

*  "  Mr.  Davis  told  me  at  the  time  that  some  generals  of  high  rank 
had  urged  in  council  that  we  should  not  maintain  a  line  of  defence 
north  of  James  River,  and  that  General  Lee  answered,  with  consider 
able  feeling,  that  such  a  course  of  argument,  pursued  to  its  legitimate 
results,  would  leave  us  nothing,  except  gradually  to  fall  back  to  the 
Gulf  of  Mexico."— COLONEL  WILLIAM  PRESTON  JOHNSTON,  Bel- 
ford's  Magazine  for  June,  1890. 


3o8  JEFFERSON  DAVIS. 

son  from  the  Valley  of  the  Shenandoah.  So  far 
as  we  were  then  informed,  General  Jackson 
was  hotly  engaged  with  a  force  superior  to  his 
own,  and,  before  he  could  be  withdrawn,  it  was 
necessary  to  drive  the  enemy  out  of  the  Val 
ley.  For  this  purpose,  and  to  mask  our  design 
to  make  a  junction  of  Jackson's  forces  with 
those  of  Lee,  a  strong  division  under  General 
Whiting  was  detached  to  go  by  rail  to  join 
General  Jackson,  and,  by  a  vigorous  assault, 
drive  the  enemy  across  the  Potomac.  As  soon 
as  he  commenced  a  retreat  which  unmistakably 
showed  that  his  flight  would  not  stop  within 
the  limits  of  Virginia,  General  Jackson  was, 
with  his  whole  force,  to  move  rapidly  on  the 
right  flank  of  the  enemy,  north  -of  the  Chick- 
ahominy.  The  manner  in  which  the  division 
was  detached  to  reinforce  General  Jackson 
was  so  open,  that  it  was  not  doubted  General 
McClellan  would  soon  be  apprised  of  it,  and 
would  probably  attribute  it  to  any  other  than 
the  real  motive,  and  would  confirm  him  in  his 
exaggerated  estimate  of  our  strength. 

"  As  evidence  of  the  daring  and  unfaltering 
fortitude  of  GeneraLLee,  I  will  here  recite  an 
impressive  conversation  which  occurred  be 
tween  us  in  regard  to  this  movement.  His 
plan  was  to  throw  forward  his  left  across  the 
Meadow  Bridge,  drive  back  the  enemy's  right 
flank,  then,  crossing  by  the  Mechanicsville 


BATTLES  AROUND  RICHMOND.  309 

Bridge  with  another  column,  to  attack  in 
front.  I  pointed  out  to  him  that  our  force  and 
intrenched  line  between  that  left  flank  and 
Richmond  was  too  weak  for  a  protracted  re 
sistance,  and,  if  McClellan  was  the  man  I  took 
him  for  when  I  nominated  him  for  promotion 
in  a  new  regiment  of  cavalry,  and  subsequent 
ly  selected  him  for  one  of  the  military  commis 
sion  sent  to  Europe  during  the  War  of  the 
Crimea,  as  soon  as  he  found  that  the  bulk  of 
our  army  was  on  the  north  side  of  the  Chick- 
ahominy,  he  would  not  stop  to  try  conclu 
sions,  but  would  immediately  move  upon 
his  objective  point,  the  city  of  Richmond. 
If,  on  the  other  hand,  he  should  behave  like 
an  engineer  officer,  and  deem  it  his  first  duty 
to  protect  his  line  of  communication,  I  thought 
the  plan  proposed  was  not  only  the  best,  but 
would  be  a  success.  Something  of  his  old 
esprit  de  corps  manifested  itself  in  General 
Lee's  first  response,  that  he  did  not  know  en 
gineer  officers  were  more  likely  than  others  to 
make  such  mistakes  ;  but,  immediately  passing 
to  the  main  subject,  he  added:  "  If  you  will 
hold  him  as  long  as  you  can  at  the  intrench- 
ment,  and  then  fall  back  on  the  detached 
works  around  the  city,  I  will  be  upon  the 
enemy's  heels  before  he  gets  there/'  * 


*  "  The  chief  danger  was  that,  while  Lee  with  his  main  body  was 
assailing  and  turning  McClellan' s  right  on   the  north  side  of  the 


316  JEFFERSON 


From  President  Davis  to  Mrs.  Davis. 

"  CONFEDERATE  STATES  OF  AMERICA, 
"EXECUTIVE  DEPARTMENT,  June  n,  1862. 

".  .  .  I  am  in  usual  health,  though 
the  weather  has  been  very  inclement.  The 
roads  to  the  different  positions  of  the  army 
could  not  be  worse  and  remain  passable. 

"The  enemy  is  intrenching  and  bringing 
up  heavy  guns  on  the  York  River  railroad, 
which  not  being  useful  to  o^tr  army  nor  paid 
for  by  our  treasury,  was  of  course  not  de 
stroyed.  His  policy  is  to  advance  by  regular 
approaches  covered  by  successive  lines  of 
earth  -  works,  that  reviled  policy  of  West 
Pointism  and  spades,  which  is  sure  to  suc 
ceed  against  those  who  do  not  employ  like 
means  to  counteract  it. 

"  Politicians,  newspapers,  and  uneducated 
officers  have  created  such  a  prejudice  in  our 
army  against  labor,  that  it  will  be  difficult, 
until  taught  by  sad  experience,  to  induce  our 
troops  to  work  efficiently.  The  greatest 
generals  of  ancient  and  modern  times  have 

Chickahominy,  McClellan  might  make  a  show  of  resistance  there, 
and  with  his  superior  forces  cross  the  Chickahominy  with  his  main 
body,  and,  breaking  through  our  centre,  go  right  into  Richmond. 

"  The  understanding  with  General  Lee  was,  that  President  Davis 
should  stay  with  our  centre,  and  if  McClellan  made  that  attempt  he 
should  hold  the  centre  as  long  as  he  could." — COLONEL  WILLIAM 
PRESTON  JOHNSTON,  Belford's  Magazine,  June,  1890. 


BATTLES  AROUND  RICHMOND.  311 

won  their  renown  by  labor.  Victories  were 
the  results.  Caesar,  who  revolutionized  the 
military  system  of  his  age,  never  slept  in  a 
camp  without  intrenching  it.  France,  Spain, 
and  Great  Britain  retain  to  this  day  memorials 
of  Roman  invasion  in  the  massive  works  con 
structed  by  the  Roman  armies. 

"  I  will  endeavor,  by  movements  which  are 
not  without  great  hazard,  to  countervail  the 
enemy's  policy.  If  we  succeed  in  rendering 
his  works  useless  to  him,  and  compel  him  to 
meet  us  on  the  field,  I  have  much  confidence 
in  our  ability  to  give  him  a  complete  defeat, 
and  then  it  may  be  possible  to  teach  him  the 
pain  of  invasion,  and  to  feed  our  army  on  his 
territory.  The  issues  of  campaigns  can  never 
be  safely  foretold  ;  it  is  for  us  to  do  all  which 
can  be  done,  and  trustingly  to  leave  our  fate 
to  Him  who  rules  the  universe." 

Our  infant  son,  William  Howell,  lay  at  the 
point  of  death,  and  Mr.  Davis,  who  could  not 
come,  wrote. 

"  RICHMOND,  June  13,  1862. 

".  1  .  My  heart  sunk  within  me  at 
the  news  of  the  suffering  of  my  angel  baby. 
Your  telegram  of  the  I2th  gives  assurance 
of  the  subsidence  of  disease.  But  the  look 
of  pain  and  exhaustion,  the  gentle  complaint, 
'  I  am  tired/  which  has  for  so  many  years 
oppressed  me,  seems  to  have  been  revived ; 


3i2  JEFFERSON  DAVIS. 

and  unless  God  spares  me  another  such  trial, 
what  is  to  become  of  me,  I  don't  know.  Dr. 
Garnett  will,  I  hope,  reach  you  this  morning. 
He  carried  with  him  what  he  regarded  as  a 
specific  remedy.  .  .  .  My  ease,  my  health, 
my  property,  my  life  I  can  give  to  the  cause 
of  my  country.  The  heroism  which  could  lay 
my  wife  and  children  on  any  sacrificial  altar 
is  not  mine.  Spare  us,  good  Lord. 

"  I  was  out  until  late  last  night  on  the  lines 
of  the  army.  The  anticipated  demonstration 
was  not  made,  and  reconnoissance  convinces 
me  that  the  reported  movement  of  the  ene 
my  was  unfounded.  He  keeps  close  under 
cover,  is  probably  waiting  for  reinforcements, 
or  resolved  to  fight  only  behind  his  own 
intrenchment.  We  must  find,  if  possible, 
the  means  to  get  at  him  without  putting 
the  breasts  of  our  men  in  antagonism  to  his 
heaps  of  earth.  Beauregard  claims  by  tele 
gram  to  have  made  a  "  brilliant  and  success 
ful  "  retreat,  and  pleads  his  constant  occupa 
tion  as  the  cause  of  his  delay  to  reply  to  the 
inquiry  made  through  the  Adjutant-General, 
as  to  reason  for  his  retreat  and  abandonment 
of  the  Memphis  and  Charleston  Railroad. 
There  are  those  who  can  only  walk  along 
when  it  is  near  to  the  ground,  and  I  fear  he 
has  been  placed  too  high  for  his  mental 
strength,  as  he  does  not  exhibit  the  ability 


'BATTLES  AROUND  RICHMOND.  313 

manifested  in  smaller  fields.  The  news  from 
the  Valley  of  Virginia  confirms  the  report  of 
the  flight  of  the  enemy,  and  the  danger  to  our 
troops  has  been  mainly  passed.  We  have 
sent  reinforcements  who,  as  fresh  troops,  will 
move  in  front  of  the  old  command. 
I  saw  a  little  boy  yesterday  in  the  street,  he 
had  his  trousers  rolled  up  and  was  wading  in 
the  gutter  ;  he  looked  something  like  Jeff,  and 
when  I  persuaded  him  to  get  out  of  the 
water,  he  raised  his  sunny  face  and  laughed, 
but  denied  my  conclusion.  Mrs.  Greenhow 
is  here.  Madam  looks  much  changed,  and 
has  the  air  of  one  whose  nerves  are  shaken 
by  mental  torture.  General  Lee's  wife  has 
arrived,  her  servants  left  her,  and  she  found 
it  uncomfortable  to  live  without  them." 

From  the  President  to  Mrs.  Davis. 

"RICHMOND,  VA.,  June  21,  1862. 

"  .  -.  ;'  .  We  are  preparing  and  taking  po 
sition  for  the  struggle  which  must  be  at  handa 
The  stake  is  too  high  to  permit  the  pulse  to 
keep  its  even  beat,  but  our  troops  are  in  im 
proved  condition,  and  as  confident  as  I  am 
hopeful  of  success.  A  total  defeat  of  McClel- 
lan  will  relieve  the  Confederacy  of  its  embar 
rassments  in  the  East,  and  then  we  must 
make  a  desperate  effort  to  regain  what  Beau- 
regard  has  abandoned  in  the  West." 


3H  JEFFERSON  DAVIS. 

From  the  President  to  Mrs.  Davis. 

"RICHMOND,  VA.,  June  23,  1862. 

"  You  will  no  doubt  hear  many  rumors,  as 
even  here  the  air  is  full  of  them.  Be  not  dis 
turbed,  we  are  better  prepared  now  than  we 
were  on  the  first  of  the  month,  and  with 
God's  blessing  will,  beat  the  enemy  as  soon 
as  we  can  get  at  him.  .  .  .  I  am  nearly 
well  again.  The.  heat  and  dust  are  very  op 
pressive.  The  wagon-trains  move  along  in  a 
cloud  which  quite  conceals  everything  except 
the  leading  team  ;  this,  of  course,  refers  to 
the  roads  around  our  main  encampments." 

"  General  G.  W.  Smith,  after  the  manner 
of  Beauregard,  has  taken  a  surgeon's  certi 
ficate,  and  is  about  to  retire  for  a  season  to 
recruit  his  health.  General  J.  E.  Johnston  is 
steadily  and  rapidly  improving.  I  wish  he 
were  able  to  take  the  field.  Despite  the  crit 
ics  who  know  military  affairs  by  instinct,  he 
is  a  good  soldier,  never  brags  of  what  he  did 
do,  and  could  at  this  time  render  most  valu 
able  service." 

From  the  President  to  Mrs.  Davis. 

"RICHMOND,  VA.,  June  25,  1862. 

" .  .  .  Skirmishing  yesterday  and  to 
day,  but  not  of  a  character  to  reveal  the  pur 
pose  of  the  enemy,  and  designed  to  conceal 
our  own.  Van  Dorn  is  at  Vicksburg,  and 


BATTLES  AROUND  RICHMOND.  315 

preparing  to  make  a  desperate  defence. 
Bragg  may  effect  something,  since  Halleck 
has  divided  his  force,  and  I  hope  will  try,  but 
there  is  reason  to  fear  that  his  army  has  been 
woefully  demoralized.  Butler,  properly  sur- 
named  the  '  beast/  has  added  to  his  claim  for 
infamous  notoriety  by  his  recent  orders,  and 
report  charges  him  with  wholesale  peculations, 
and  daily  selling  licenses  for  private  gain. 

"  For  instance,  two  respectable  gentlemen 
assured  me  that  he  sold  permits  for  the  ex 
port  of  salt,  at  the  rate  of  five  dollars  per 
sack.  How  much  better  it  would  have  been 
had  the  city  been  left  a  pile  of  ashes  !  " 

The  offensive-defensive  campaign  which 
resulted  so  gloriously  to.  our  arms  was  thus 
inaugurated,  and  turned  from  the  capital  of 
the  Confederacy  a  danger  so  momentous 
that,  looking  at  it  so  retrospectively,  it  is  evi 
dent  that  a  policy  less  daring  or  less  firmly 
pursued  would  not  have  saved  the  capital 
from  capture.  The  President  wrote  substan 
tially  as  follows  : 

"  General  J.  E.  B.  Stuart  was  sent  with  a 
cavalry  force,  on  June  8th,  to  observe  the 
enemy,  mask  the  approach  of  General  Jack 
son,  and  to  cover  the  route  by  which  he  was 
to  march,  and  to  ascertain  whether  the  enemy 
had  any  defensive  works  or  troops  to  inter 
fere  with  the  advance  of  those  forces.  He 


316  'JEFFERSON  DAVIS. 

reported  favorably  on  both  these  points.  On 
June  26th,  General  Stuart  received  confiden 
tial  instructions  from  General  Lee,  the  execu 
tion  of  which  is  so  interwoven  with  the  seven 
days'  battles  as  to  be  more  appropriately 
noticed  in  connection  with  them. 

"  According  to  the  published  reports,  Gen 
eral  McClellan's  position  was  regarded  at  this 
time  as  extremely  critical. 

11  During  the  night  I  visited  the  several 
commands  along  the  intrenchment  on  the 
south  side  of  the  Chickahominy. 

"  In  one  of  these  engagements  our  loss  was 
small  in  numbers,  but  great  in  value.  Among 
others  who  could  ill  be  spared,  here  fell  the 
gallant  soldier  Brigadier-General  Richard 
Griffith.  He  had  served  with  distinction  in 
foreign  war,  and  when  the  South  was  invaded 
was  among  the  first  to  take  up  arms  in  de 
fence  of  our  rights.* 

o 

11  Our  troops  slept  upon  their  arms.  The 
enemy  retreated  during  the  night,  and  by  the 
time  thus  gained,  he  was  enabled  to  cross  the 
White  Oak  Creek  and  destroy  the  bridge. 

"  It  is  an  extraordinary  fact  that,  though 
the  capital  had  been  threatened  by  an  attack 
from  the  sea-board  on  the  right,  though  our 

*  Mr.  Davis  leaned  over  him  and  said,  "My  dear  boy,  I  hope 
you  are  not  seriously  hurt."  The  General  grasped  his  hand  and 
said,  "Yes,  I  think  fatally  ;  farewell,  Colonel." 


BATTLES  AROUND   RICHMOND.  317 

army  had  retreated  from  Yorktown  up  to  the 
Chickahominy,  and,  after  encamping  there 
for  a  time,  had  crossed  the  river  and  moved 
up  to  Richmond  ;  yet,  when  at  the  close  of  the 
battles  around  Richmond  McClellan  retreated 
and  was  pursued  toward  the  James  River, 
we  had  no  maps  of  the  country  in  which  we 
were  operating  •  our  generals  were  ignorant 
of  the  roads,  and  their  guides  knew  little  more 
than  the  way  from  their  homes  to  Richmond. 
It  was  this  fatal  defect  in  preparation,  and  the 
erroneous  answers  of  the  guides,  that  caused 
General  Lee  first  to  post  Holmes  and  Wise, 
when  they  came  down  the  River  road,  at  New 
Market,  where,  he  was  told,  was  the  route 
that  McClellan  must  pursue  in  his  retreat 
to  the  James.  Subsequently  he  learned  that 
there  was  another  road,  by  the  Willis  church, 
which  would  better  serve  the  purpose  of  the 
retreating  foe." 

The  President  was  on  the  field  every  day 
during  the  seven  days'  fight,  and  slept  on  it 
every  night,  and  in  the  sixth  day's  fight  he 
had  taken  his  position  in  a  house  near  the 
field  and  received  a  message  from  General 
Lee  to  leave  it,  as  the  enemy's  guns  were 
bearing  upon  it.  Within  a  few  minutes  after 
Mr.  Davis  left  it,  the  house  was  riddled. 

Even  thus  early  the  presence  of  foreigners 
in  the  army  of  the  North  began  to  be  noticed, 


3i8  JEFFERSON  DAVIS. 

and  the  ranks  of  the  Federal  Army  were  filled 
up  from  this  year  forth  with  foreigners  of  all 
sorts  and  conditions  of  men,  July  18,  1862. 
Of  237  dead  Union  soldiers  who  had  served 
in  these  battles  under  the  command  of  Colo 
nel  Woodbury,  of  Michigan,  it  was  said  there 
was  but  one  who  was  American  born. 

These  men  sacked  and  burned  without 
the  sympathy  a  common  language  would  have 
necessarily  created. 

"  When  McClellan's  army  was  in  retreat,  to 
the  fatigue  of  hard  marches  and  successive 
battles,  enough  to  have  disqualified  our  troops 
from  rapid  pursuit,  was  added  the  discomfort 
of  being  thoroughly  wet  and  chilled  by  the 
rain.  I  sent  to  the  neighboring  houses  to 
buy,  if  it  could  be  had,  at  any  price,  enough 
whiskey  to  give  each  of  the  men  a  single  gill, 
but  it  could  not  be  found. 

"  The  foe  had  silently  withdrawn  in  the 
night  by  a  route  which  had  been  unknown  to 
us,  but  which  was  the  most  direct  road  to 
Harrison's  Landing,  and  he  had  so  many 
hours  the  start  that,  among  the  general  offi 
cers  who  expressed  their  opinion  to  me, 
only  one  thought  it  possible  to  pursue  effect 
ively.  That  was  General  T.  J.  Jackson,  who 
quietly  said,  '  They  have  not  all  got  away,  if 
we  go  immediately  after  them.' 

" ;     .     .     General    Lee    was   not  given  to 


BATTLES  AROUND  RICHMOND.  319 

indecision,  and  they  have  mistaken  his  char 
acter  who  suppose  caution  was  his  vice.  He 
was  prone  to  attack,  and  not  slow  to  press  an 
advantage  when  he  gained  it.  He  ordered 
Longstreet  and  Jackson  to  advance,  but  a 
violent  storm  which  prevailed  throughout  the 
day  greatly  retarded  their  progress.  The 
enemy,  harassed  and  closely  followed  by 
the  cavalry,  succeeded  in  gaining  Westover, 
on  the  James  River,  and  the  protection  of 
his  gun  -  boats.  His  position  was  one  of 
great  natural  and  artificial  strength,  after  the 
heights  were  occupied  and  intrenched.  It 
was  flanked  on  each  side  by  guns  of  his  ship 
ping,  as  well  as  by  those  mounted  in  his  in- 
trenchments.  Under  these  circumstances  it 
was  inexpedient  to  attack  him ;  and  our 
troops,  who  had  been  marching  and  fighting 
almost  incessantly  for  seven  days,  under  the 
most  trying  circumstances,  were  withdrawn 
in  order  to  afford  them  the  repose  of  which 
they  stood  so  much  in  need. 

"  Several  days  were  spent  in  collecting 
arms  and  other  property  abandoned  by  the 
enemy,  and,  in  the  meantime,  some  artillery 
and  cavalry  were  sent  below  Westover  to 
annoy  his  transports.  On  July  8th,  our  army 
returned  to  the  vicinity  of  Richmond. 

"  The  siege  of  Richmond  was  raised,  and 
the  object  of  a  campaign  which  had  been 


320  JEFFERSON  DAVIS. 

prosecuted  after  months  of  preparation,  at  an 
enormous  expenditure  of  men  and  money, 
was  completely  frustrated. 

General  Lee  was  now  gaining  fast  the  con 
fidence  of  all  classes ;  he  had  possessed  that 
of  the  President  always.  The  Richmond 
Dispatch  of  July  19,  1862,  said,  "The  rise 
which  this  officer  has  suddenly  taken  in  the 
public  confidence  is  without  a  precedent.  At 
the  commencement  of  the  war  he  enjoyed  the 
highest  reputation  of  any  officer  on  the  con 
tinent. 

"  The  operations  of  General  Lee  in  the 
short  campaign  which  is  just  over  were  cer 
tainly  those  of  a  master.  No  captain  that 
ever  lived  could  have  planned  or  executed  a 
better  campaign.  It  was  perfect  in  all  its 
parts,  and  will  be  set  down  hereafter  as 
among  the  models  which  the  military  student 
will  be  required  to  study." 

The  army  under  General  Johnston  on  May 
3  ist,  from  official  reports,  showed  an  effective 
strength  of  62,696. 

Deduct  the  losses  sustained  in  the  battle  of 
Seven  Pines,  as  shown  by  the  official  reports 
of  casualties,  say,  6,084  and  we  have  56,612 
as  the  number  of  effectives  when  General 
Lee  took  command  of  the  Army  of  Northern 
Virginia. 

Before    the    seven    days'    battles    around 


BATTLES  AROUND  RICHMOND.  321 

Richmond,  reinforcements  to  the  number  of 
24,150  were  brought  to  the  army,  so  that  at 
the  beginning  of  the  contest  with  McClellan, 
Lee  had  80,762  effectives  for  battle. 

If  we  adopt  as  correct  the  Confederate  loss 
as  given  by  Swinton,  say  19,000,  then  it  would 
appear  that  when  McClellan  reached  the 
James  River  with  "  85,000  to  90,000  men, 
he  was  being  pursued  by  Lee  with  but 
62,000."* 

When  the  news  of  our  great  victory  over 
such  long  odds  came  to  Raleigh,  everyone 
was  breathless  with  excitement.  The  tele 
graph  office  was  separated  by  a  narrow  alley 
from  my  room  in  the  hotel.  As  I  walked  rny 
ill  baby  to  and  fro  by  the  window,  a  voice 
came  from  the  street,  "Tell  us  what  you 
know,  please."  Just  then  a  crowd  filled  the 
alley  and  another  voice  cried,  fl  Boys,  I  can 
take  it  off  as  it  passes."  Another  one  said  to 
me,  "  Do  tell  us  it  is  a  victory  ;''  and  as  a  tele 
gram  from  the  President  to  me  was  recorded, 
every  word  was  shouted  to  the  crowd.  At  the 
end  of  the  message  someone  said,  "  Don't 
hurrah,  you  will  scare  the  sick  baby."  The 
crowd  could  not  keep  silent  long,  and  after 
they  reached  the  middle  of  the  street  they 
shouted  themselves  hoarse.  One  old  man 


*  Colonel  Taylor  :   Four  Years  with  Lee, 
VOL.  II.—  21 


322  JEFFERSON  DAVIS. 

stopped  in  the  alley  and  called  up — "  I  say, 
madam,  we  will  pray  for  your  poor  baby  ; 
don't  be  down-hearted." 


From  the  President  to  Mrs.  Davis. 

After  the  siege   of  Richmond  was  raised, 
the  President  wrote  to  me  as  follows  : 


"RICHMOND,  July  6,  1862. 

"  .  »  .  Had  all  the  orders  been  well  and 
promptly  executed,  there  would  have  been  a 
general  dispersion  of  McClellan's  army,  and 
the  remnant  which  might  have  been  held  to 
gether  could  have  only  reached  the  James 
River  by  first  crossing  the  Chickahominy. 
Our  success  has  been  so  remarkable  that  we 
should  be  grateful,  and  believe  that  even  our 
disappointments  were  ordered  for  our  gain. 
McClellan  certainly  showed  capacity  in  his  re 
treat,  but  there  is  little  cause  to  laud  a  general 
who  is  driven  out  of  his  intrenchments  by  a 
smaller  and  worse  armed  force  than  his  own,, 
and  compelled  to  abandon  a  campaign  in  the 
preparation  of  which  he  had  spent  many 
months  and  many  millions  of  dollars,  and  seek 
safety  by  flying  to  other  troops  for  cover,  burn 
ing  his  depots  of  provisions,  and  marking 
his  route  by  scattered  arms,  ammunition,  and 
wagons.  The  reinforcements  sent  to  him  may 


BATTLES  AROUND  RICHMOND.  323 

advance.  His  army  would  never  have  fought 
us  again  if  we  had  been  left  to  an  even-handed 
settlement  of  the  issue  which  he  made  and  we 
joined. 

"It  is  reported  that  all  their  forces  now 
available  are  to  be  sent  to  the  James  River, 
and  one  great  effort  is  to  be  made  to  defeat 
us  here.  Our  army  is  greatly  reduced,  but  I 
hope  recruits  will  be  promptly  sent  forward 
from  most  of  the  States,  and  there  are  many 
causes  which  will  interfere  with  the  execution 
of  the  enemy's  plans,  and  some  things  they 
have  not  dreamed  which  we  may  do.  If  our 
ranks  were  full  we  could  end  the  war  in  a  few 
weeks.  There  is  reason  to  believe  that  the 
Yankees  have  gained  from  England  and 
France  as  the  last  extension,  this  month,  and 
expect  foreign  intervention  if  we  hold  them  at 
bay  on  the  first  of  August.  My  great  grief 
at  the  loss  of  the  Virginia  is  renewed  and 
redoubled  by  our  want  of  her  now  in  the 
James  River.  The  timber  for  the  completion 
of  the  Richmond  vw&  burned  at  Norfolk,  and 
the  work  on  her  has  been  thus  greatly  de 
layed  ;  it  is  uncertain  when  she  will  be  finished. 
The  batteries  on  the  river,  eight  miles  below 
here,  will  stop  the  gun-boats,  and  we  must  in 
tercept  and  defeat  any  land  force  which  at 
tempts  to  take  them  from  the  land  side.  Our 
troubles,  you  perceive,  have  not  ended,  but 


324  JEFFERSON  DAVIS. 

our  chances  have  improved,  so  I  repeat,  be  of 
good  cheer/' 

I  went  to  Richmond  for  a  short  visit  im 
mediately  after  the  seven  days'  fight,  and  the 
odors  of  the  battle-field  were  distinctly  percep 
tible  all  over  the  city.  The  ladies  during  the 
battles  had  spent  the  greater  part  of  their  time 
on  the  roofs  of  their  houses,  watching  the 
course  of  the  smoke  and  gleam  of  battle,  and 
as  the  lurid  light  drifted  down  to  the  Penin 
sula  they  rejoiced  and  thanked  God  ;  when  it 
shone  nearer  to  the  city  they  prayed  for  help 
from  above.  The  President  slept  upon  the 
field  every  night,  and  was  exposed  to  fire  all 
day. 

About  this  time  Mr.  Davis  gave  me  news 
of  the  Sumter. 


From  President  Davis  to  Mrs.  Davis. 

"CONFEDERATE  STATES  OF  AMERICA, 
"EXECUTIVE  DEPARTMENT,  July  7,  iS6z. 

".  .  .  The  Sumter  was  found  to  be  un- 
seaworthy,  and  as  she  could  not  be  prepared  at 
Gibraltar,  she  was  laid  up  there,  the  crew  dis 
charged,  and  the  officers  ordered  to  go  home. 
Becket  sailed  from  Hamburg,  and  reached 
Nassau  about  the  middle  of  June  on  his  way 
home.  Captain  Semmes  sailed  from  Eng 
land,  and  reached  the  same  port  a  few  days 


BATTLES  AROUND  RICHMOND.  325 

thereafter,  and  finding  orders  which  assigned 
him  to  a  new  vessel  *  now  under  construc 
tion,  returned  from  Nassau  to  England  to 
superintend  the  building  of  his  vessel,  and 
took  Becket  with  him.  ..."  Nothing  im 
portant  from  the  army  to-day;  the  enemy  are 
still  sending  off  demoralized  troops,  and  are 
said  to  be  still  receiving  reinforcements.  If, 
as  is  reported,  they  are  leaving  the  Southern 
Coast  and  the  Tennessee  line,  we  may  expect 
another  great  effort  in  this  region,  and  will 
be  able  to  bring  up  some  troops  to  aid  us." 

The  Confederate  women  looked  on  at  the 
struggle  with  ever-increasing  interest ;  they 
offered  their  jewels,  their  plate,  and  every 
thing  of  value  they  possessed  which  would 
be  useful  to  their  country.  One  of  these 
devoted  patriots  said  to  me,  "  I  tried,  and 
could  not  make  up  my  mind  to  part  with  my 
wedding-ring,  and  it  was  so  thin  from  wear  ; 
else  I  think  I  could  have  given  it  up." 

There  were  some  quaint  appeals  made  to 
Mr.  Davis,  and  his  sympathy  and  sense  of  hu 
mor  brought  him  into  correspondence  with 
the  writers,  or  induced  him  to  make  as  quaint 
endorsements  on  their  letters. 

One  girl,  whose  sweetheart  was  a  gallant 
soldier  in  the  Fifth  South  Carolina  Regiment, 

*  The  290,  or  the  Alabama. 


326  JEFFERSON  DAVIS. 

and  who  had  fought  bravely  all  through  the 
seven  days'  battles,  made  the  following  ear 
nest  request : 

'"  DEAR  MR.  PRESIDENT  :  I  want  you  to  let 
Jeems  C.,  of  company  oneth,  5th  South  Caro 
lina  Regiment,  come  home  and  get  married. 
Jeems  is  willin',  I  is  willin',  his  mammy  says 
she  is  willin',  but  Jeems's  capt'in,  he  ain't 
willin'.  Now  when  we  are  all  willin'  'ceptin' 
Jeems'  captain,  I  think  you  might  let  up  and 
let  Jeems  come.  I'll  make  him  go  straight 
back  when  he's  done  got  married  and  fight 
just  as  hard  as  ever. 

"  Your  affectionate  friend,  etc." 

Mr.  Davis  wrote  on  the  letter,  "  Let  Jeems 
go,"  and  Jeems  went  home,  married  the 
affectionate  correspondent  of  Mr.  Davis,  re 
turned  to  his  regiment,  and  did  fight  as  well 
as  ever. 


±ll 
BUSH  ROD  Jof1f; 


CONF-EDEKATE   GENERALS. 


CHAPTER   XXX. 


FOREIGN    RELATIONS.— UNJUST    DISCRIMINATION 
AGAINST    US.— DIPLOMATIC  CORRESPONDENCE. 


MR.  MASON  was  appointed  our  Representa 
tive  in  London,  Mr.  Slidell  in  Paris,  Mr.  Rost 
in  Spain,  and  Mr.  Mann  in  Belgium.  I  hope 
Mr.  Mann's  memoirs,  which  are  very  full  and 
written  from  diaries,  will  be  published,  and 
these  will  shed  much  light  upon  the  diplo 
matic  service  of  the  Confederacy. 

The  Confederate  States  having  dissolved 
their  connection  with  the  United  States, 
whose  relations  were  securely  and  long  es 
tablished  with  Foreign  Governments,  it  de 
volved  upon  the  Confederate  States  formally 
to  declare  to  these  Governments  her  separa 
tion  from  the  United  States.  This  the  Pro 
visional  Congress  did,  but  the  United  States 
antecedently  had  claimed  sovereignty  over 
the  Confederate  States,  and  the  Governments 
of  Europe  announced  that  they  could  not  as 
sume  to  judge  of  the  rights  of  the  comba 
tants.  These  Governments  had  fallen  into 
the  error,  now  commonly  prevailing,  that  our 


328  JEFFERSON  DAVIS. 

separate  sovereignty  had  been  merged  into 
one  supreme  Federal  authority,  and  they 
therefore  announced  their  neutrality,  and 
merely  recognized  the  existence  of  a  state  of 
war.  This  decision  was  in  effect  hostile  to 
our  rights,  for  if  we  were,  like  the  United 
States,  belligerents,  why  refuse  us  the  same 
privileges  of  international  intercourse  accord 
ed  to  the  United  States?  Under  this  view 
European  powers  recognized  for  a  year  a; 
"  paper  blockade,"  forgetful  that  "  blockades 
to  be  binding  must  be  effective."  * 

The  Government  of  the  Confederate  States 
remonstrated  against  this  injustice,  and  was 
answered  by  silence. 

However,  Her  Majesty's  foreign  office  pub 
lished  a  despatch  dated  February  n,  1862,  in 
terpolating  into  the  agreement  of  the  Paris 
Congress,  that  if  the  blockading  ships  "  cre 
ated  an  evident  danger  of  entering  or  leav 
ing"  the  ports  blockaded,  that  "  should  be 
considered  a  blockade." 

Soon  after  the  right  of  neutral  ships  to 
trade  with  English  ships  was  abandoned  by 
England.  The  duty  to  recognize  a  belliger 
ent  was  postponed,  and  all  the  recognized 
neutral  rights  by  which  we  might  have  been 
benefited  were  alternately  waived  or  asserted, 

*  The  language  of  the  five  great  powers  of  Europe  in  the  Congress 
at  Paris,  1856. 


FOREIGN  RELATIONS.  329 

as  they  might  prove  of  service  to  the  United 
States. 

The  commerce  of  the  United  States  was 
not  protected  by  its  Government,  but  reclam 
ation  for  all  the  loss  resultant  from  the  enter 
prise  of  the  Confederate  cruisers  was  claimed 
from,  and  partially  accorded  by  Great  Britain, 
because  our  vessels  were  built  in  her  ports. 
Thus,  though  the  armies  of  the  United  States 
were  recruited  from  the  whole  world,  protec 
tion  was  claimed  for  her  commerce  from  the 
same  source.  Had  the  English  Government 
not  leaned  to  the  side  of  the  United  States, 
the  fact  that  the  ballot-boxes  used  at  elec 
tions  were  those  of  the  States,  and  that  the 
vote  for  their  secession  had  been  unanimous, 
would  have  been  conclusive  against  character 
izing  the  war  as  an  "  insurrection." 

On  October  3,  1862,  the  French  minister 
of  foreign  affairs,  Monsieur  Drouyn  de  L'Huys, 
addressed  a  note  to  the  ambassadors  at  Lon 
don  and  St.  Petersburg,  proposing  that  these 
great  powers  should  arrange  an  armistice  for 
six  months,  in  view  of  the  blood  shed  and  the 
equal  success  of  the  combatants.  The  Eng 
lish  Government  answered  that  their  offer 
might  be  declined  by  the  United  States  Gov 
ernment.  The  Russian  Government  an 
swered  that  their  interposition  might  cause 
the  opposite  to  the  desired  effect.  For  want 


330  JEFFERSON  DAVIS. 

of  co-operation,  the  effort  was  not  made  by 
France.  In  May,  1861,  Her  Britannic  Ma 
jesty  assured  our  enemies  that  "  the  sym 
pathies  of  this  country  were  rather  with  the 
North  than  with  the  South,"  and  on  June  i, 
1 86 1,  she  interdicted  the  use  of  her  ports  to 
armed  ships  and  privateers,  though  the  Unit 
ed  States  claimed  this  right  for  themselves. 
On  June  12,  1861,  the  United  States  reproved 
Great  Britain  for  holding  intercourse  with  the 
Commissioners  of  the  Confederate  States, 
"  so-called,"  and  received  assurances  that  it 
would  not  occur  again. 

On  June  14,  1862,  Mr.  Seward  justified  him 
self  for  obstructing  Charleston  Harbor  and 
other  commercial  inlets,  by  saying  that  three 
thousand  miles  were  more  than  could  be  suc 
cessfully  blockaded.  He  could  stop  up  the 
"  large  holes  "  by  his  ships,  but  could  not 
stop  up  all  "  the  small  ones."  Her  Majesty's 
minister  for  foreign  affairs,  May  6,  1862,  said, 
"  this  blockade  kept  up  irregularly  has  injured 
thousands.  Yet  Her  Majesty's  Government 
have  never  sought  to  take  advantage  of  the 
obvious  imperfections  of  this  blockade  in  or 
der  to  declare  it  inoperative." 

Her  Majesty's  Government  interposed  no 
objection  to  the  purchase  of  arms  for  the 
United  States,  but  in  May,  1861,  Earl  Russell 
entertained  the  complaint  that  the  Confeder- 


FOREIGN  RELATIONS.  331 

ate  Government  was  buying  arms  at  Nassau, 
contraband  of  war,  and  the  Confederate  States 
vessel  was  ineffectually  seized,  because  it 
touched  at  Nassau,  at  the  instance  of  the  Unit 
ed  States,  and  was  made  subject  to  a  prose 
cution,  when  simultaneously  cargoes  and  mu 
nitions  of  war  were  openly  shipped  to  the 
United  States  to  be  used  in  our  destruction. 

An  example  of  the  diplomatic  blockade  en 
forced  by  the  United  States  against  our  Com 
missioners  is  given  in  a  correspondence  be 
tween  Earl  Russell  and  Mr.  Mason,  and  will 
give  some  idea  of  how  Mr.  Mason  and  other 
envoys  were  met  at  every  turn  by  rebuffs  un 
der  Mr.  Seward's  promptings  —  sometimes 
with  evasion,  but  more  often  with  the  absurd 
assumption  that  our  organized  government, 
large  and  efficient  army,  and  united  popula 
tion  were  rebels,  not  belligerents. 

The  Honorable  James  T.  Mason  had  been 
unavailingly  trying  to  procure  from  Europe 
the  acknowledgment  of  our  rights  as  belliger 
ents  before  the  nations  of  the  world,  and 
had  been  from  time  to  time  met  with  diplo 
matic  evasions.  The  astute  and  watchful 
ambassador  from  the  United  States,  Charles 
Francis  Adams,  had  thus  far  forestalled  every 
effort  to  this  end  by  presenting  Mr.  Seward's 
exparte  statements  of  the  causes,  conduct,  and 
prospect  of  an  early  termination  of  the  war. 


332  JEFFERSON  DAVIS. 

Mr.  Seward  predicted  the  war  would  end  in 
thirty  days.  The  English  overestimated  the 
readiness  of  the  United  States  for  war,  and 
knew  that  the  affair  of  the  Trent  had  left  on 
their  minds  toward  Great  Britain  a  bitter 
sense  of  injury.  The  only  measure  by  which 
Mr.  Seward  governed  his  presentation  of  the 
condition  and  conduct  of  either  section  of  the 
States,  was  how  much  Her  Majesty's  Gov 
ernment  would  believe.  Our  Commissioners 
were,  through  his  misrepresentation,  refused 
interviews  with  her  ministers,  and  our  as 
sured  success  seemed  to  be  the  only  avenue 
to  their  intercourse  with  them.  Under  these 
circumstances,  the  following  correspondence 
took  place  between  Mr.  Mason  and  Lord 
John  Russell : 

"No.  54  DEVONSHIRE  STREET,  PORTLAND  PLACE, 
"LONDON,  July  17,  1862. 

"  MY  LORD  :  In  late  proceedings  of  Parlia 
ment,  and  in  reply  to  inquiries  made  in  each 
House  as  to  the  intention  of  Her  Majesty's 
Government  to  tender  offices  of  mediation 
to  the  contending  powers  in  North  America, 
it  was  replied  in  substance,  by  Lord  Palm- 
erston  and  your  Lordship,  that  Her  Majes 
ty's  Government  had  no  such  intention  at 
present,  because,  although  this  Government 
would  be  ever  ready  to  offer  such  mediation 


FOREIGN  RELATIONS. 


333 


whenever  it  might  be  considered  that  such 
interposition  would  avail,  it  was  believed  by 
the  Government  that,  in  the  present  inflamed 
or  irritated  temper  of  the  belligerents,  any 
such  offer  might  be  misinterpreted,  and 
might  have  an  effect  contrary  to  what  was  in 
tended. 

"  I  will  not  undertake,  of  course,  to  ex 
press  any  opinion  of  the  correctness  of  this 
view  so  far  as  it  may  apply  to  the  Govern 
ment  or  the  people  of  the  United  States,  but 
as  the  terms  would  seem  to  have  been  ap 
plied  equally  to  the  Government  or  people  of 
the  Confederate  States  of  America,  I  feel 
warranted  in  the  declaration  that,  while  it  is 
the  unalterable  purpose  of  that  Government 
and  people  to  maintain  the  independence 
they  have  gained ;  while  under  no  circum 
stances  or  contingencies  will  they  ever  again 
come  under  a  common  Government  with 
those  now  constituting  the  United  States  ; 
and  although  they  do  not  in  any  form  invite 
such  interposition ;  yet  they  can  see  nothing 
in  their  position  which  could  make  either  of 
fensive  or  irritating  a  tender  of  such  offices 
on  the  part  of  Her  Majesty's  Government, 
as  might  lead  to  a  termination  of  the  war — a 
war  hopelessly  carried  on  against  them,  and 
which  is  attended  by  a  wanton  waste  of  hu 
man  life  at  which  humanity  shudders.  On 


334  JEFFERSON  DAVIS. 

the  contrary,  I  can  entertain  no  doubt  that 
such  offer  would  be  received  by  the  Govern 
ment  of  the  Confederate  States  of  America 
with  that  high  consideration  and  respect  due 
to  the  benign  purpose  in  which  it  would  have 
its  origin.  "  I  am,  etc., 

"J.  M.  MASON. 
"To  LORD  JOHN  RUSSELL." 

"  FOREIGN  OFFICE,  July  24,  1862. 

"  SIR  :  I  have  the  honor  to  acknowledge 
the  receipt  of  your  letter  of  the  I7th  instant, 
respecting  the  intention  expressed  by  Her 
Majesty's  Government  to  refrain  from  any 
present  mediation  between  the  contending 
parties  in  America,  and  I  have  to  state  to 
you,  in  reply,  that  in  the  opinion  of  Her 
Majesty's  Government,  any  proposal  to  the 
United  States  to  recognize  the  Confederacy 
would  irritate  the  United  States,  and  any  pro 
posal  to  the  Southern  States  to  return  to  the 
Union  would  irritate  the  Confederates. 

"  This  was  the  meaning  of  my  declaration 
in  Parliament  on  the  subject. 

"  I  am,  etc., 

"  RUSSELL. 
"  To  JAMES  M.  MASON." 

"  No.  54  DEVONSHIRE  STREET,  PORTLAND  PLACE, 
"LONDON,  July  24,  1862. 

"  MY  LORD  :  In  the  interview  I  had  the 
honor  to  have  with  your  Lordship  in  Febru- 


FOREIGN  RELATIONS. 


335 


ary  last,  I  laid  before  your  Lordship,  under 
instructions  from  the  Government  of  the  Con 
federate  States,  the  views  entertained  by  that 
Government,  leading  to  the  belief  that  it  was, 
of  right,  entitled  to  be  recognized  as  a  separate 
and  independent  power,  and  to  be  received 
as  an  equal  in  the  great  family  of  nations. 

"  I  then  represented  to  your  Lordship  that 
the  dissolution  of  the  Union  of  the  States  of 
North  America,  by  the  withdrawal  therefrom 
of  certain  of  the  Confederate  States,  was  not 
to  be  considered  as  a  revolution  in  the  ordi 
nary  acceptation  of  that  term  ;  far  less  was 
it  to  be  considered  as  an  act  of  insurrection 
or  rebellion ;  that  it  was,  both  in  form  and 
in  fact,  but  the  termination  of  a  confederacy 
which  during  a  long  course  of  years  had 
violated  the  terms  of  the  Federal  compact  by 
the  exercise  of  unwarranted  powers,  oppress 
ing  and  degrading  the  minority  section. 
That  the  seceding  parties  had  so  withdrawn 
as  organized  political  communities,  and  had 
formed  a  new  Confederacy,  comprising  then, 
as  now,  thirteen  separate  and  sovereign 
States,  embracing  an  area  of  870,616  square 
miles,  and  with  a  population  of  12,000,000. 
This  new  Confederacy  has  now  been  in 
complete  and  successful  operation  for  a  period 
of  nearly  eighteen  months,  has  proved  itself 
capable  of  successful  defence  against  every 


336  JEFFERSON  DAVIS. 

attempt  to  subdue  or  destroy  it,  and  in  a  war, 
conducted  by  its  late  confederates  on  a  scale 
to  tax  their  utmost  power,  has  presented 
everywhere  a  united  people  determined  at 
every  cost  to  maintain  the  independence  they 
had  affirmed. 

"  Since  that*  interview  more  than  five 
months  have  elapsed,  and  during"  that  period 
events  have  but  more  fully  confirmed  the 
views  I  then  had  the  honor  to  present  to  your 
Lordship.  The  resources,  strength,  and 
power  of  the  Confederate  States  developed 
by  these  events,  I  think,  authorize  me  to  as 
sume,  as  the  judgment  of  the  intelligence  of 
all  Europe,  that  the  separation  of  the  States 
of  North  America  is  final ;  that  under  no 
possible  circumstances  can  the  late  Federal 
Union  be  restored  ;  that  the  new  Confederacy 
has  evinced  both  the  capacity  and  the  de 
termination  to  maintain  its  independence ; 
and,  therefore,  with  other  powers  the  ques 
tion  of  recognizing  that  independence  is  sim 
ply  a  question  of  time. 

"  The  Confederate  States  ask  no  aid  from, 
or  intervention  by,  foreign  powers.  They  are 
entirely  content  that  the  strict  neutrality 
which  has  been  proclaimed  between  the 
belligerents  shall  be  adhered  to,  however  un 
equally  it  may  operate,  because  of  fortuitous 
circumstances,  upon  them. 


FOREIGN  RELATIONS.        .  337 

"  But  if  the  principles  and  morals  of  the 
public  law  be,  when  a  nation  has  established 
before  the  world  both  its  capacity  and  its 
ability  to  maintain  the  government  it  has 
ordained,  that  a  duty  devolves  on  other 
nations  to  recognize  such  fact,  then  I  submit 
that  the  Government  of  the  Confederate 
States  of  America,  having  sustained  itself  un 
impaired,  through  trials  greater  than  most 
nations  have  been  called  to  endure,  and  far 
greater  than  any  it  has  yet  to  meet,  has 
furnished  to  the  world  sufficient  proof  of 
stability,  strength,  and  resources  to  entitle  it 
to  a  place  among  the  independent  nations  of 
the  earth.  I  have,  etc., 

"  J.  M.  MASON." 

To  this  letter  no  answer  was  returned,  and 
after  waiting  a  reasonable  time  Mr.  Mason 
addressed  another  letter  to  the  minister : 

Mr.  Mason  to  Earl  Russell. 

"No.  54  DEVONSHIRE  STREET,  PORTLAND  PLACE, 
"LONDON,  July  24,  1862. 

"  Mr.  Mason  presents  his  compliments  to 
Earl  Russell,  and  if  agreeable  to  his  Lordship, 
Mr.  Mason  would  be  obliged  if  Earl  Russell 
would  allow  him  the  honor  of  an  interview,  at 
such  time  as  may  be  convenient  to  his  Lord 
ship. 

VOL.  II.— 22 


338  JEFFERSON  DAVIS. 

"  Mr.  Mason  desires  to  submit  to  Earl  Rus 
sell  some  views  connected  with  the  subject  of 
the  letter  he  has  the  honor  to  transmit  here 
with,  which  he  thinks  may  be  better  imparted 
in  a  brief  conversation." 

Earl  Russell  to  Mr.  Mason. 

"FOREIGN  OFFICE,  July  31,  1862. 

"  Lord  Russell  presents  his  compliments  to 
Mr.  Mason.  He  begs  to  assure  Mr.  Mason 
that  it  is  from  no  want  of  respect  to  him  that 
Lord  Russell  has  delayed  sending  an  answer 
to  his  letter  of  the  24th  instant. 

"  Lord  Russell  has  postponed  sending  that 
answer  in  order  that  he  might  submit  a  draft 
of  it  to  the  cabinet  on  Saturday  next.  It  will 
be  forwarded  on  Monday  to  Mr.  Mason. 

"  Lord  Russell  does  not  think  any  advan 
tage  would  arise  from  the  personal  interview 
which  Mr.  Mason  proposes,  and  must  there 
fore  decline  it." 

"No.  54  DEVONSHIRE  STREET,  PORTLAND  PLACE, 
"August  i,  1862. 

"  MY  LORD  :  In  the  interview  I  had  the 
honor  to  propose  in  my  last  note,  I  had  in 
tended  briefly  to  submit  the  following  views, 
which  I  thought  might  not  be  without  weight 
in  the  consideration  to  be  given  by  Her 
Majesty's  Government  to  the  request  for 
recognition  of  the  Confederate  States,  sub- 


FOREIGN  RELATIONS.  339 

mitted  in  my  letter  of  July  24th  ultimo.  I  ask 
leave  now  to  present  them  as  supplemental 
to  that  letter. 

"  If  it  be  true,  as  there  assumed,  that  in  the 
settled  judgment  of  England  the  separation  of 
the  States  is  final,  then  the  failure  of  so  great 
a  power  to  recognize  the  fact  in  a  formal 
manner  imparts  an  opposite  belief,  and  must 
operate  as  an  incentive  to  the  United  States 
to  protract  the  contest. 

"  In  a  war  such  as  that  pending  in  America, 
where  a  party  in  possession  of  the  govern 
ment  is  striving  to  subdue  those  who,  for 
reasons  sufficient  to  themselves,  have  with 
drawn  from  it,  the  contest  will  be  carried  on 
in  the  heat  of  blood  and  of  popular  excitement 
long  after  its  object  has  become  hopeless  in 
the  eyes  of  the  disinterested  public. 

"  The  Government  itself  may  feel  that  its 
power  is  inadequate  to  bring  back  the  re 
cusant  States,  and  yet  be  unable  at  once  to 
control  the  fierce  elements  which  surround  it 
while  the  war  wages.  Such,  it  is  confidently 
believed,  is  the  actual  condition  of  affairs. 

"  It  is'  impossible,  in  the  experience  of 
eighteen  months  of  no  ordinary  trial,  in  the 
small  results  attained,  and  in  the  .manifest  ex 
haustion  of  its  resources,  that  any  hope  re 
mains  with  the  Government  of  the  United 
States  either  of  bringing  about  a  restoration 


340-  JEFFERSON  DAVIS. 

of  the  dissevered  Union,  or  of  subjugating 
those  who  have  renounced  it.  And  yet  the 
failure  of  foreign  powers  formally  to  recog 
nize  this  condition  of  things  disables  those  in 
authority  from  conceding  that  fact  at  home. 

"  Again,  it  is  known  that  there  is  a  large 
and  increasing  sentiment  in  the  United  States 
in  accordance  with  these  views  ;  a  sentiment 
which  has  its  origin  in  the  hard  teachings  of 
the  war  as  it  has  progressed. 

"  It  is  believed  (or  so  confidently  affirmed) 
that  there  was  a  large  party  in  the  Southern 
States  devoted  to  the  Union,  whose  presence 
and  power  would  be  manifested  there  as  soon 
as  the  public  force  of  the  United  States  was 
present  to  sustain  it.  I  need  not  say  how 
fully  the  experience  of  the  war  has  dispelled 
this  delusion. 

"  Again,  it  was  believed,  and  confidently 
relied  on,  that  in  the  social  structure  of  the 
Southern  States  there  was  a  large  population 
of  the  dominant  race  indifferent,  if  not  hostile, 
to  the  basis  on  which  that  social  structure 
rests,  in  which  they  were  not  interested,  and 
who  would  be  found  the  allies  of  those  whose 
mission  was  supposed  to  be  in  some  way  to 
break  it  up.;  but  the  same  experience  has 
shown  that  the  whole  population  of  the  South 
is  united,  as  one  people,  in  arms  to  resist  the 
invader. 


FOREIGN  RELATIONS.  341 

"  Nothing  remains,  then,  on  which  to  rest 
any  hope  of  conquest  but  a  reliance  on  the 
superior  numbers  and  the  supposed  greater 
resources  of  the  Northern  States.  I  think 
the  results  of  the  last  (or  pending)  campaign 
have  proved  how  idle  such  expectations  were, 
against  the  advantages  of  a  people  fighting  at 
home  and  bringing  into  a  common  stock  of 
resistance,  as  a  free-will  offering,  all  that  they 
possessed,  whether  of  blood  or  treasure — a 
spectacle  now  historically  before  the  world. 

"  It  is  in  human  experience  that  there  must 
be  those  in  the  United  States  who  cannot 
shut  their  eyes  to  such  facts,  and  yet,  in  the 
despotic  power  now  assumed  by  the  Gov 
ernment,  to  give  expression  to  any  doubt 
would  be  to  court  the  hospitalities  of  the 
dungeon. 

"  One  word  from  the  government  of  Her 
Majesty  would  encourage  the  people  to  speak, 
and  the  civilized  world  would  respond  to  the 
truths  they  would  utter,  '  that  for  whatever 
purpose  the  war  was  begun,  it  was  continued 
now  in  a  vindictive  and  unreasoning  spirit, 
shocking  alike  to  humanity  and  civilization/ 
That  potent  word  would  be  simply  to  announce 
a  fact,  which  a  frenzied  mind  could  only  dis 
pute,  that  the  Southern  States,  now  in  a  sep 
arate  Confederacy,  had  established  before  the 
world  its  competency  to  maintain  the  govern- 


342  JEFFERSON  DAVIS. 

ment  of  its  adoption,  and  its  determination  to 
abide  by  it. 

"  To  withhold  it  would  not  only  seem  in 
derogation  of  truth,  but  would  be  to  encour 
age  the  continuance  of  a  war,  hopeless  in  its 
object,  ruinous  alike  to  the  parties  engaged  in 
it,  and  to  the  prosperity  and  welfare  of  Eu 
rope. 

"].  M.  MASON." 

"  To  LORD  JOHN  RUSSELL." 

' '  FOREIGN  OFFICE,  August  2,   1862. 

"  SIR  :  I  have  had  the  honor  to  receive 
your  letters  of  July  24th  and  ist  instant,  in 
which  you  repeat  the  considerations  which  in 
the  opinion  of  the  Government  of  the  so-called 
Confederate  States,  entitled  that  Government 
to  be  recognized  of  right  as  a  separate  and  in 
dependent  power,  and  to  be  received  as  an 
equal  in  the  great  family  of  nations. 

"  In  again  urging  the  views  you  represent, 
as  before,  that  the  withdrawal  of  certain  of 
the  Confederates  from  the  Union  of  the  States 
of  North  America  is  not  to  be  considered  as 
a  revolution,  in  the  ordinary  acceptation  of 
that  term,  far  less  of  an  act  of  insurrection  or 
rebellion,  but  as  the  termination  of  a  Confed 
eracy  which  had,  during  a  long  course  of 
years,  violated  the  terms  of  the  Federal  com 
pact. 


FOREIGN  RELATIONS.  343 

"  I  beg  leave  to  say,  in  the  outset,  that 
upon  this  question  of  aright  of  withdrawal,  as 
upon  that  of  the  previous  conduct  of  the 
United  States,  Her  Majesty's  Government 
have  never  presumed  to  form  a  judgment. 
The  interpretation  of  the  Constitution  of  the 
United  States,  and  the  character  of  the  pro 
ceedings  of  the  President  and  Congress  of 
the  United  States  under  that  Constitution, 
must  be  determined,  in  the  opinion  of  Her 
Majesty's  Government,  by  the  States  and 
people  in  North  America  who  have  inherited, 
and  until  recently  upheld,  that  Constitution. 
Her  Majesty's  Government  decline  altogether 
the  responsibility  of  assuming  to  be  judges  in 
such  a  controversy. 

"  You  state  that  the  Confederacy  has  a  pop 
ulation  of  twelve  millions  ;  that  it  has  proved 
self-capable  for  eighteen  months  of  successful 
defence  against  every  attempt  to  subdue  or 
destroy  it ;  that  in  the  judgment  of  the  intelli 
gence  of  all  Europe  the  separation  is  final  ; 
and  that,  under  no  possible  circumstances  can 
the  late  Federal  Union  be  restored. 

"  On  the  other  hand,  the  Secretary  of  State 
of  the  United  States  had  affirmed,  in  an  offi 
cial  despatch,  that  a  large  portion  of  the  once 
disaffected  population  has  been  restored  to 
the  Union,  and  now  evinces  its  loyalty  and 
firm  adherence  to  the  Government ;  that  the 


344  JEFFERSON  DAVIS. 

white  population  now  in  insurrection  is  under 
five  millions,  and  that  the  Southern  Confed 
eracy  owes  its  main  strength  to  the  hope  of 
assistance  from  Europe. 

"  In  the  face  of  the  fluctuating  events  of 
the  war ;  the  alternations  of  victory  and  de 
feat  ;  the  capture  of  New  Orleans ;  the  ad 
vance  of  the  Federals  to  Corinth,  to  Mem 
phis,  and  the  banks  of  the  Mississippi  as  far 
as  Vicksburg ;  contrasted,  on  the  other  hand, 
with  the  failure  of  the  attack  on  Charleston, 
and  the  retreat  from  before  Richmond — 
placed,  too,  between  allegations  so  contra 
dictory  on  the  part  of  the  contending  pow 
ers — Her  Majesty's  Government  are  still  de 
termined  to  wait. 

(t  In  order  to  be  entitled  to  a  place  among 
the  independent  nations  of  the  earth,  a  State 
ought  to  have  not  only  strength  and  resour 
ces  for  a  time,  but  afford  promise  of  stability 
and  permanence.  Should  the  Confederate 
States  of  America  win  that  place  among  na 
tions,  it  might  be  right  for  other  nations 
justly  to  acknowledge  an  independence 
achieved  by  victory,  and  maintained  by  a  suc 
cessful  resistance  to  all  attempts  to  over 
throw  it.  That  time,  however,  has  not,  in 
the  judgment  of  Her  Majesty's  Government, 
yet  arrived.  Her  Majesty's  Government, 
therefore,  can  only  hope  that  a  peaceful  ter- 


FOREIGN  RELATIONS.  345 

mination  of  the  present  bloody  and  destruc 
tive  contest  may  not  be  distant. 
"  I  am,  etc., 

"  RUSSELL." 
"To  JAMES  M.  MASON,  ESQ." 

Thus  was  foiled  one  of  our  sturdy  old  en 
voy's  efforts  to  set  his  country's  cause  fairly 
before  a  people  loving  liberty,  speaking  the 
same  language  with  us,  and  from  whom  we 
were  descended  within  the  memory  of  those 
then  living.  One  bold  and  profound  thinker 
among  the  English  governing  class,  Lord 
Lovvther,  has  written  an  admirable  exposi 
tion  of  the  dogma  of  State  Rights,  but 
though  many  other  Englishmen  understood 
its  binding  force,  as  nations  cannot  afford,  as 
such,  to  indulge  sympathy  for  those  unable 
to  maintain  themselves  against  an  oppressor, 
they  "passed  by  on  the  other  side." 

Throughout  all  this  unfair  discrimination, 
with  the  world  against  him,  environed  by 
enemies  on  all  sides,  the  President  of  the 
Confederate  States,  with  admirable  temper, 
pursued  his  steady  efforts  to  establish  rela 
tions  with  foreign  Governments,  though  his 
maintenance  of  the  strict  truth  under  all  cir 
cumstances  was  a  disqualification  he  did  not 
underrate.  His  despatches  are  dignified  mod 
els  of  advocacy  and  remonstrance,  and  were 


346  JEFFERSON  DAVIS. 

the  admiration  of  the  diplomats  of  his  time. 
His  courage  was  as  undaunted  when  he 
stood  for  the  right  against  the  world,  as  his 
dignity  and  honesty  of  purpose  were  impreg 
nable,  and  his  countrymen  and  his  family  do 
not  now  wish  it  had  been  otherwise.  The 
just  verdict  of  mankind  cannot  be  rendered 
until  all  who  had  formed  a  preconceived 
opinion  have  passed  away.  Posterity  is  the 
just  and  generous  judge  to  whom  Confeder 
ates  look  to  write  his  honored  name  high  on 
the  shining  lists  of  brave  and  self-sacrificing 
heroes. 


CHAPTER    XXXI. 

MEMPHIS,    VICKSBURG,    AND   BATON   ROUGE. 

ON  June  7,  1862,  a  fleet  of  gun-boats 
steamed  down  the  Tennessee  River,  flanking 
our  positions  on  the  Mississippi  River,  and  a 
fleet  moved  down  the  Mississippi,  bombarded 
Island  No.  10,  reduced  it,  bombarded  Fort 
Pillow  and  reduced  that  fort,  and  then  attacked 
Memphis  and  took  possession,  after  a  manful 
resistance  with  an  inadequate  force.  After 
this  disaster  followed  close  the  siege  of  Vicks- 
burg,  which  was  repelled  by  the  assistance  of 
our  ram,  the  Arkansas,  under  Captain  J.  N. 
Brown.  From  the  I5th  to  the  i8th  of  June,  the 
enemy  endeavored  to  sink  the  Arkansas  with 
heavy  shells  from  their  mortars,  and  an  attempt 
was  made  to  cut  her  out  from  under  the  bat 
teries  ;  but  it  failed,  with  the  loss  of  one  of  their 
boats.  On  the  27th  both  Federal  fleets  re 
tired,  and  the  siege,  which  had  lasted  sixty- 
seven  days,  was  ended.  Two  powerful  fleets 
had  been  foiled,  and  a  land  force  of  from  4,000 
to  5,000  men  held  at  bay.  Then  followed  the 
battle  of  Baton  Rouge,  and  the  destruction  of 
the  Ram  Arkansas  to  save  her  from  the  enemy, 
and  their  return  to  New  Orleans  defeated. 


CHAPTER   XXXII. 

CONFEDERATE    CONGRESS.— THE   PRESIDENT'S   MES 
SAGE.— HORACE   GREELEY. 

IN  the  absence  of  authorized  reports  of  the 
debates  in  Congress  which  are  unattainable, 
if  they  exist,  I  have  from  scrap  books  com 
piled  excerpts  to  show  the  trend  of  public 
opinion,  and  appended  Mr.  Davis's  message 
in  which  he  treats  of  the  recommendations 
made  by  that  body,  some  of  which  are  indi 
cated  by  the  subjoined  extracts. 

"CONFEDERATE  CONGRESS,  August  23,  1862. 

"  Resolution  of  thanks  to  General  J.  C. 
Breckinridge  and  command  for  gallant  con 
duct  at  the  battle  of  Baton  Rouge ;  also 
resolution  of  thanks  to  General  Earl  Van 
Dorn  and  command,  and  citizens  of  Vicks- 
burg,  for  their  defence  of  that  city." 

"  RICHMOND,  August  18,  1862. 

"  Several  resolutions  were  offered  in  the 
House  looking  to  the  doctrine  of  lex  talionis 
and  the  enlargement  of  the  conscription." 
It  was  clear  that  these  two  matters  would 


CONFEDERATE   CONGRESS.  349 

occupy  the  attention  of  Congress  before  other 
business  could  be  entertained. 

"  As  to  the  conscription,  the  immediate  ex 
tension  of  it  to  all  persons  capable  of  bearing 
arms  between  the  ages  of  thirty-five  and  for 
ty-five,  is  rendered  absolutely  necessary  by 
the  call  for  six  hundred  thousand  troops  by 
Lincoln.  There  can  be  little  doubt  that  these 
six  hundred  thousand  new  men  will  be  raised 
by  the  Yankee  Government  by  October  I5th, 
at  the  farthest." 

"CONFEDERATE  CONGRESS,  August  i8th. 

"  Mr.  Foote,  of  Tennessee,  offered  a  bill 
for  retaliatory  purposes.  Referred  to  Com 
mittee  on  Military  Affairs.  (It  recites  that 
the  enemy  refused  to  treat  our  partisan  sol 
diers  as  prisoners,  and  have  also  punished 
innocent  private  citizens  for  their  acts.  It 
provides  that  an  officer  who  may  have  ordered 
such  atrocities  is  to  be  put  to  death,  if  cap 
tured."  An  equal  number  of  prisoners  (offi 
cers  to  be  preferred)  taken  from  the  enemy, 
to  suffer  the  fate  inflicted  on  our  captured  sol 
diers  or  citizens.  Also  a  bill  to  regulate 
the  treatment  of  prisoners.  It  provides  that 
any  officer  or  private  captured  by  our  army, 
who  shall  have  committed  any  offence  pro 
nounced  felonious  by  the  laws  of  the  Confeder 
acy  or  any  State,  shall  be  delivered  up  for  trial. 


350  JEFFERSON  DAVIS. 

Also,  a  bill  to  punish  negroes  in  arms.  (It 
provides  that  Federal  armies  incongruously 
composed  of  white  and  black  shall  not  be  held 
entitled  to  the  privileges  of  war,  or  to  be  held 
entitled  to  be  taken  prisoners.  Of  such  as 
may  be  captured,  the  negroes  shall  be  re 
turned  to  their  masters  or  publicly  sold,  and 
their  commanders  to  be  hung  or  shot,  as  may 
be  most  convenient.) 

"Mr.  Curry  reported  that  the  committee, 
of  which  he  was  chairman,  had  waited  on  the 
President,  who  said  that  he  would  communi 
cate  a  message  to  the  House  immediately. 

"  Mr.  Foote,  resuming,  also  offered  a  bill 
to  retaliate  for  the  seizing  of  citizens  by  the 
enemy.  (It  provides  that  of  the  prisoners 
held  by  us,  a  number  equal  to  that  of  the  citi 
zens  seized  shall  be  held  as  hostages  for  their 
safety,  and  subjected  to  like  treatment ;  any 
officers,  civil  or  military,  concerned  in  their 
seizure,  shall  be  imprisoned  during  the  war.^)  " 
— President '  s  Message,  August  18,  1862. 

"  .  .  .  The  moneyed  obligations  of  the 
Confederate  Government  are  forged  by  citi 
zens  of  the  United  States,  and  publicly  ad 
vertised  for  sale  in  their  cities,  with  a  notor 
iety  which  sufficiently  attests  the  knowledge 
of  their  Government ;  and  its  complicity  in 
the  crime  is  further  evinced  by  the  fact  that 
the  soldiers  of  the  invading  armies  are  found 


CONFEDERATE   CONGRESS.  351 

supplied  with  large  quantities  of  these  forged 
notes,  as  a  means  of  despoiling  the  country 
people  by  fraud  out  of  such  portions  of  their 
property  as  armed  violence  may  fail  to  reach. 
Two,  at  least,  of  the  Generals  of  the  United 
States  are  engaged,  unchecked  by  their  Gov 
ernment,  in  arming  and  training  slaves  for 
warfare  against  their  masters,  citizens  of  the 
Confederacy.  Another  has  been  found  of 
instincts  so  brutal  as  to  invite  the  violence  of 
his  soldiery  against  the  women  of  a  captured 
city. 

"  .  .  .  Retaliation  in  kind  for  many  of 
them  is  impracticable,  for  I  have  had  occa 
sion  to  remark  in  a  former  message  that,* 
^l,nder  no  excess  of  provocation,  could  our 
noble-hearted  defenders  be  driven  to  wreak 
vengeance  on  unarmed  men,  on  women,  or  on 
children.  But  stern  and  exemplary  punish 
ment  can  and  will  be  meted  out  to  the  mur 
derers  and  felons  who,  disgracing  the  pro 
fession  of  arms,  seek  to  make  public  war  the 
occasion  for  the  commission  of  the  most  mon 
strous  crimes. 

" .  .  .  The  report  of  the  Secretary  of 
the  Treasury  will  exhibit  in  detail  the  opera 
tions  of  that  department.  It  will  be  seen 
with  satisfaction,  that  the  credit  of  the  Gov- 

*  The  italics  are  mine. 


352  JEFFERSON  DAVIS. 

ernment  securities  remains  unimpaired,  and 
that  this  credit  is  fully  justified  by  the  com 
paratively  small  amount  of  accumulated  debt 
notwithstanding  the  augmentation  of  our  mil 
itary  operations. 

"  .  ...  Within  a  recent  period  we  have 
effected  the  object  so  long  desired  of  an  ar 
rangement  for  an  exchange  of  prisoners, 
which  is  now  being  executed  by  delivery  at 
the  points  agreed  upon,  and  which  will,  it  is 
hoped,  speedily  restore  our  brave  and  unfor 
tunate  countrymen  to  their  places  in  the 
ranks  of  the  army,  from  which,  by  the  for 
tunes  of  war,  they  have  been  for  a  time  sep 
arated.  The  details  of  the  arrangement  will 
be  communicated  to  you  in  a  special  report, 
when  further  progress  has  been  made  in  their 
execution. 

"  The  report  of  the  Postmaster-General 
discloses  the  embarrassments  which  resulted 
in  the  postal  service  from  the  occupation  by 
the  enemy  of  the  Mississippi  River  and  por 
tions  of  the  territory  of  the  different  States. 
The  measures  taken  by  the  Department  for 
relieving  these  embarrassments  as  far  as 
practicable,  are  detailed  in  the  report.  It  is 
a  subject  of  congratulation,  that  during  the 
ten  months  that  ended  on  March  3d  last,  the 
expenses  of  the  Department  were  largely  de 
creased,  while  its  revenue  was  augmented, 


CONFEDERATE    CONGRESS.  353 

as  compared  with  a  corresponding  period 
ending  on  June  30,  1861,  when  the  postal  sys 
tem  was  conducted  under  the  authority  dele 
gated  to  the  United  States." 

The  London  Index  made  the  following  com 
ments  on  President  Davis's  message,  1862  : 

"  If  any  fault  has  been  found  with  the  late 
message,  save  by  those  who  cannot  think 
that  the  South  can  do  any  right  or  the  North 
any  wrong,  it  is  that  it  speaks  almost  too  cold 
ly  and  indifferently  of  the  glorious  achieve 
ments  of  this  summer's  campaign — achieve 
ments  which  would  have  wrung  an  ample 
meed  of  praise  from  the  haughtiest  and  most 
reserved  of  European  statesmen.  There  is  a 
Roman,  almost  a  stoical,  sternness  in  the 
manner  in  which  the  Confederate  President 
accepts,  as  matters  of  course,  the  victories 
which  have  saved  the  capital ;  and  the  ar 
my  might  almost  be  disappointed  did  it  not 
know  how  thoroughly  a  ruler,  himself  a  distin 
guished  soldier,  appreciates  the  exploits  which 
have  signalized  the  soldiership  of  the  South. 
Never  was  anything  further  removed  from 
bombast  or  boastfulness  than  the  language 
in  which  Mr.  Davis  announces  triumphs  which 
would  have  excited  enthusiasm  even  in  phleg 
matic  England,  and  done  honor  to  the  veteran 
armies  of  France. 

"  Mr.  Davis's   temper  does    not   fail   him, 

VOL.  II.— 23 


354  JEFFERSON  DAVIS. 

even  when  he  has  to  speak  of  the  wanton  bar 
barities  suffered  by  the  districts  that  have 
been  visited  by  the  invaders,  and  of  the  un 
exampled  outrages  on  the  laws  of  civilized 
warfare  which  reflect  such  signal  infamy  on 
the  Federal  army  and  on  the  Federal  Gov 
ernment.  He  speaks  strongly,  no  doubt,  but 
in  terms  of  just  and  measured  reprobation, 
of  the  crimes  which  have  rendered  a  cause, 
bad  to  begin  with,  utterly  detestable  in  the 
eyes  of  the  civilized  world." 


CHAPTER   XXXIII. 

RETALIATION   FOR   OUTRAGES. 

GENERAL  POPE,  commanding  a  new  army  in 
Northern  Virginia,  having  issued  the  most 
brutal  orders  directed  against  peaceful  citi 
zens,  the  President  wrote  to  General  Lee  as 
follows : 

"RICHMOND,  VA.,  July  31,  1862. 

"  GENERAL  R.  E.  LEE,  Commanding,  etc. 

"  SIR  :  On  the  22d  of  this  month  a  cartel  for 
the  exchange  of  prisoners  of  war  was  signed 
between  Major-General  D.  H.  Hill,  in  behalf 
of  the  Confederate  States,  and  Major-General 
John  A.  Dix,  in  behalf  of  the  United  States. 

"  By  the  terms  of  that  cartel  it  is  stipulated 
that  all  prisoners  of  war  hereafter  taken  shall 
be  discharged  on  parole  till  exchanged. 

"  Scarcely  had  the  cartel  been  signed  when 
the  military  authorities  of  the  United  States 
commenced  a  practice  changing  the  character 
of  the  war  from  such  as  becomes  civilized  na 
tions  into  a  campaign  of  indiscriminate  rob 
bery  and  murder. 

"  The  general  order  issued  by  the  Secre- 


3$6  JEFFERSON  DAVIS. 

tary  of  War  of  the  United  States  in  the  city 
of  Washington,  on  the  very  day  that  the  car 
tel  was  signed  in  Virginia,  directs  the  military 
commanders  of  the  United  States  to  take  the 
private  property  of  our  people  for  the  conven 
ience  and  use  of  their  armies  without  compen 
sation. 

"  The  general  order  issued  by  General 
Pope  on  July  23d,  the  day  after  the  signing 
of  the  cartel,  directs  the  murder  of  our  peace 
ful  inhabitants  as  spies,  if  found  quietly  till 
ing  their  farms  in  his  rear,  even  outside  of 
his  lines ;  and  one  of  his  Brigadier-Gener 
als,  Steinwehr,  has  seized  upon  innocent  and 
peaceful  inhabitants  to  be  held  as  hostages,  to 
the  end  that  they  may  be  murdered  in  cold 
blood  if  any  of  his  soldiers  are  killed  by  some 
unknown  persons  whom  he  designates  as 
"  bushwhackers."  * 

"  Under  this  state  of  facts,  this  Government 
has  issued  the  enclosed  general  order,  recog 
nizing  General  Pope  and  his  commissioned 
officers  to  be  in  the  position  which  they  have 
chosen  for  themselves,  that  of  robbers  and 
murderers,  not  that  of  public  enemies,  en- 


*  Major-General  Pope,  July  13,  1862,  issued  an  order  that  if  any 
soldier  should  be  fired  upon  on  the  inarch,  the  house  nearest  should 
be  razed  to  the  ground  ;  and  if  any  were  injured  where  no  house  was 
near,  every  household  in  the  radius  of  five  miles  should  be  made  to 
pay  such  indemnity  as  was  thought  sufficient. 


RETALIATION  FOR    OUTRAGES.  357 

titled  if  captured  to  be  considered  as  prison 
ers  of  war. 

"  We  find  ourselves  driven,  by  our  enemies, 
by  steady  progress  toward  a  practice  which 
we  abhor,  and  which  we  are  vainly  struggling 
to  avoid.  Some  of  the  military  authorities  of 
the  United  States  seem  to  suppose  that  bet 
ter  success  will  attend  a  savage  war,  in  which 
no  quarter  is  to  be  given  and  no  sex  to  be 
spared,  than  has  hitherto  been  secured  by 
such  hostilities  as  are  alone  recognized  to  be 
lawful  by  civilized  men  in  modern  times. 

"  For  the  present  we  renounce  our  right  of 
retaliation  on  the  innocent,  and  shall  continue 
to  treat  the  private  enlisted  soldiers  of  Gen 
eral  Pope's  army  as  prisoners  of  war ;  but  if, 
after  notice  to  the  Government  at  Washington 
of  our  confining  repressive  measures  to  the 
punishment  only  of  commissioned  officers, 
who  are  willing  participants  in  their  crimes, 
these  savage  practices  are  continued,  we  shall 
reluctantly  be  forced  to  the  last  resort  of  ac 
cepting  the  war  on  the  terms  chosen  by  our 
foes,  until  the  outraged  voice  of  a  common 
humanity  forces  respect  for  the  recognized 
rules  of  war. 

"  While  these  facts  would  justify  our  re 
fusal  to  execute  the  generous  cartel  by  which 
we  have  consented  to  liberate  an  excess  of 
thousands  of  prisoners  held  by  us  beyond  the 


358  JEFFERSON  DAVIS. 

number  held  by  the  enemy,  a  sacred  regard 
to  plighted  faith  shrinking  from  the  mere  sem 
blance  of  breaking  a  promise,  prevents  our 
resort  to  this  extremity.  Nor  do  we  desire 
to  extend  to  any  other  forces  of  the  enemy 
the  punishment  merited  alone  by  General 
Pope  and  such  commissioned  officers  as 
choose  to  participate  in  the  execution  of  his 
infamous  orders. 

"  You  are  therefore  instructed  to  communi 
cate  to  the  commander-in-chief  of  the  armies 
of  the  United  States  the  contents  of  this  let 
ter,  and  a  copy  of  the  enclosed  general  order, 
to  the  end  that  he  may  be  notified  of  our  in 
tention  not  to  consider  any  officers  hereafter 
captured  from  General  Pope's  army  as  pris 
oners  of  war. 

"  Very  respectfully  yours, 
(Signed)  "  JEFFERSON  DAVIS." 

"  RICHMOND,  August  i,   1862. 

"  SIR  :  On  June  29th  last,  you  were  in 
structed  by  the  Secretary  of  War  to  make  in 
quiries  of  the  General  in  command  of  the 
United  States  forces,  relative  to  alleged  mur 
ders  committed  on  our  citizens  by  officers  of 
the  United  States  army,  and  the  case  of  Wil 
liam  B.  Mumford,  reported  to  have  been  mur 
dered  at  New  Orleans  by  order  of  Major- 
General  B.  F.  Butler,  and  Colonel  John  Owen, 
reported  to  have  been  murdered  in  the  same 


RETALIATION  FOR    OUTRAGES.  359 

manner  in  Missouri,  by  order  of  Major-Gen 
eral  Pope,  were  specially  referred  to. 

"  The  inquiries  thus  made  by  you  of  Major- 
General  McClellan  were  referred  by  that  of 
ficer  to  his  Government  for  reply,  but  no  an 
swer  has  yet  been  received. 

"  We  have  since  been  credibly  informed 
that  numerous  other  officers  of  the  armies  of 
the  United  States  have,  within  the  Confeder 
acy,  been  guilty  of  felonies  and  capital  offences 
which  are  punishable  by  all  law  human  and 
divine.*  A  few  of  those  best  authenticated 
are  brought  to  your  notice. 

"  The  newspapers  received  from  the  en 
emy's  country  announce  as  a  fact  that  Major- 
General  Hunter  has  armed  slaves  for  the  mur 
der  of  their  masters,  and  has  thus  done  all  in 
his  power  to  inaugurate  a  servile  war  which 
is  worse  than  that  of  the  savage,  inasmuch  as 
it  superadds  other  horrors  to  the  indiscrimin 
ate  slaughter  of  all  ages,  sexes,  and  conditions. 

11  Brigadier-General  Phelps  is  reported  to 

*  Notably  NcNeil,  a  cruel  and  unscrupulous  officer,  shocked  the 
moral  sense  of  all  soldierly  men.  By  his  order  ten  secessionists 
were  shot  at  Palmyra,  Mo. ,  because  an  old  gentleman  (a  Unionist) 
was  missing,  but  who  afterward  turned  up  in  Illinois.  He  ap 
proached  General  McKinstry  in  St.  Louis,  and  offered  his  hand. 
The  General  said  :  "  I  don't  shake  hands  with  a  murderer."  McNeil 
afterward  asked  three  gentlemen  to  drink  with  him  in  the  Planters' 
House  saloon.  They  turned  on  their  heels  and  said  :  "We  don't 
drink  with  a  murderer."  This  was  the  reception  he  met  with  al 
most  everywhere  in  St.  Louis. 


360  JEFFERSON  DA  VIS. 

have  imitated  at  New  Orleans  the  example 
set  by  General  Hunter  on  the  coast  of  South 
Carolina. 

"  Brigadier- General  G.  N.  Fitch  is  stated 
in  the  same  journals  to  have  murdered  in  cold 
blood  two  peaceful  citizens,  because  one  of  his 
men,  while  invading1  our  country,  was  killed 
by  some  unknown  person  defending  his  home. 

"  You  are  now  instructed  to  repeat  your 
inquiry  relative  to  the  cases  of  Mumford  and 
Owen,  and  further  to  ask  of  the  Commanding 
General  of  the  enemy  whether  the  statements 
in  relation  to  the  action  of  Generals  Hunter, 
Phelps,  and  Fitch  are  admitted  to  be  true,  and 
whether  the  conduct  of  those  Generals  is 
sanctioned  by  their  Government. 

"  You  will  further  give  notice  that,  in  the 
event  of  our  failure  to  receive  a  reply  to  these 
inquiries  within  fifteen  days  from  the  delivery 
of  your  letter,  we  shall  assume  that  the  al 
leged  facts  are  true  and  are  sanctioned  by  the 
Government  of  the  United  States. 

"  In  such  event,  on  that  Government  will 
rest  the  responsibility  of  the  retributive  or  re 
taliatory  measures  which  we  shall  adopt  to 
put  an  end  to  the  merciless  atrocities  which 
now  characterize  the  war  waged  against  us. 

"Very  respectfully  yours,  etc., 

(Signed)  "  JEFFERSON  DAVIS." 

"  GENERAL  R.  E.  LEE,  Commanding,"  etc. 


CHAPTER   XXXIV. 

CAMPAIGN  AGAINST   POPE.— SECOND   MANASSAS.— 
SHARPSBURG.— FREDERICKSBURG. 

ALTHOUGH  defeated,  the  army  under  Gen 
eral  McClellan  was  still  a  formidable  force, 
and  might  at  any  time  threaten  Richmond. 

His  camp  at  Westover  was  protected  by 
his  gun-boats,  and  the  hills  had  been  fortified 
to  resist  the  Confederate  forces. 

General  Lee,  under  the  idea  that  a  dem 
onstration  upon  Washington  would  force  Mc- 
Clellan's  withdrawal  for  its  protection,  early 
in  August,  sent  General  Jackson  in  advance, 
to  engage  General  Pope,  who  commanded  a 
new  army  in  Northern  Virginia. 

Immediately  upon  receiving  information  of 
this  move,  McClellan  began  to  transfer  troops 
to  Washington,  and  Lee  moved  with  the  rest 
of  his  army  to  join  General  Jackson. 

After  several  engagements  the  enemy  was 
forced  to  withdraw,  and  the  next  morning 
Longstreet  resumed  his  march  to  join  Jack 
son.* 

*  At  this   time  a  Federal  critic  said  :   "The   truth  is,  the  rebel 
generals   strip   their  armies  for  a  march  as  a  man   strips  to  run  a 


362  JEFFERSON  DAVIS. 

Much  desultory  fighting  took  place  on  Au 
gust  29th ;  but  on  the  3Oth  the  enemy  made 
a  determined  attack  on  Jackson's  front,  and 
Longstreet  ordered  his  whole  line  forward  to 
the  charge,  and  defeated  Pope's  army. 

The  career  of  General  Pope  was  as  brief, 
boastful,  and  disastrous,  as  those  of  Gen 
erals  Lee  and  Jackson  were  brilliant,  auda 
cious,  and  successful. 

Immediately  after  the  battle  of  Second 
Manassas,  the  army  under  Lee  crossed  the 
Potomac  and  entered  Maryland. 

While    at    Frederick    City  *    General    Lee 


race.  Their  men  are  '  destitute  '  when  they  reach  our  lines,  because 
they  cannot  cumber  themselves  with  supplies.  They  come  to  fight 
— not  to  eat.  They  march  to  a  battle-field,  not  to  a  dress  parade. 
When  shall  our  armies  be  found,  for  a  like  reason  'destitute  in  the 
presence  of  the  enemy  ? '" 

*  Treatment  of  Confederate  prisoners. 

"  There  were  445  sick  Confederate  soldiers  left  in  the  hospital  at 
Frederick,  Maryland,  before  the  fight  of  Sharpsburg,  and  these  were 
'captured  '  at  a  charge  bayonet  by  the  Yankees.  They  were  hud 
dled  together  in  the  German  Reform  Church,  with  five  crackers  a 
day  for  rations,  though  the  ladies  of  Frederick  gave  them  what 
they  could  spare  to  eat.  They  were  then  with  prisoners,  making  a 
total  of  1,400,  marched  six  miles  (to  the  Baltimore  &  Ohio  Rail 
road,  many  of  them  falling  on  the  way  from  illness),  and  sent  to 
Baltimore  ;  the  interruption  on  the  trip  being  an  attempt  on  the  part 
of  a  sentinel  to  kill  one  of  the  prisoners  who  got  off  the  cars  to 
drink  at  a  creek. 

"  In  Baltimore  they  were  placed  in  a  prison  crowded  to  suffoca 
tion.  The  people  of  Baltimore,  upon  hearing  of  their  arrival, 
carried  them  buckets  of  coffee  and  all  sorts  of  eatables.  The  next 
day  they  were  marched  out  in  charge  of  a  Dutch  captain,  who,  after 
parading  them  through  the  principal  streets,  put  them  on  board  the 


CAMPAIGN  AGAINST  POPE.  363 

matured    his  plan  of  operations,  and  issued 
his  order  of  battle. 

Unfortunately  for  these  plans  of  Lee,  the 
battle  order  addressed  to  D.  H.  Hill  was  by 
some  accident  lost,  and  fell  into  the  hands  of 
McClellan,  thus  disclosing  to  him  the  move 
ments  of  his  adversary.*  McClellan  im 
mediately  pushed  on  to  South  Mountain 
Pass,  where  D.  H.  Hill  had  been  left  to 
guard  the  rear,  while  Jackson  went  to  Har- 


steamer  City  of  Norwich,  and  they  were  soon  (with  the  exception  of 
six  who  died  on  the  way)  within  the  walls  of  Fort  Delaware,  made 
famous  by  the  sufferings  of  our  soldiers  there.  One  of  our  men  was 
stripped  and  whipped  by  a  sergeant,  who  accused  him  of  stealing. 
There  were  2,700  prisoners  there  ;  of  this  number  186  took  the 
oath  of  allegiance,  and  46  died.  Out  of  the  2,700  there  were  1,500 
sick,  and  not  200  of  them  will  be  fit  for  service  under  a  month. 

"The  Confederate  officers  were  treated  with  consideration,  but 
the  privates  experienced  the  most  brutal  usage.  The  prisoners  who 
are  alluded  to  returned  yesterday  by  the  flag  of  truce." — Richmond 
Despatch,  I3th  instant. 

*  General  Robert  Ransom,  in  his  reminiscences  of  Mr.  Davis, 
writes,  in  reference  to  General  D.  H.  Hill  and  the  lost  order,  as 
follows  : 

"In  the  early  summer  of '63,  D.  H.  Hill  was  commanding  at 
Richmond.  He  was  sent  thence  to  the  army  under'Bragg.  I  hap 
pened  to  be  present,  a  day  or  two  after  Hill  had  gone,  when  an 
intimate  personal  friend  of  Mr.  Davis  rather  criticised  the  Presi 
dent  for  what  he  considered  an  unwise  and  too  magnanimous  act, 
remarking  that  the  '  President  certainly  knew  that  Hill  was  no  friend 
of  his  and  was  insubordinate,  and  had,  by  losing  his  order  in  '62, 
thwarted  the  plans  of  General  Lee  in  Maryland.'  Mr.  Davis 
answered,  '  Hill  is  a  faithful  soldier,  General  Bragg  has  asked  for 
him,  and  it  is:  not  proven  that  he  was  to  blame  in  reference  to  the 
lost  order.  Besides,  men  are  not  perfect,  and  I  can  have  no  personal 
resentment  to  true,  brave  men  who  are  such  fighters  as  all  know 


364  JEFFERSON  DAVIS. 

per's  Ferry  and  Longstreet  to  Hagerstown. 
Hill  made  a  heroic  defence,  but  being  out 
flanked,  fell  back  toward  Sharpsburg  during 
the  night. 

On  the  morning  of  September  I5th,  Gener 
al  Lee  stood  at  bay  at  Sharpsburg,  with  bare 
ly  18,000  men,  and  confronted  McClellan's 
whole  army  along  Antietam  Creek. 

Colonel  Walter  Taylor,  in  his  "  Four 
Years  with  Lee,"  says  : 

"  The  fighting  was  heaviest  and  most  con 
tinuous  on  the  Confederate  left.  It  is  es 
tablished  upon  indisputable  Federal  evidence, 
that  the  three  corps  of  Hooker,  Mansfield, 
and  Sumner  were  completely  shattered  in 
the  repeated  but  fruitless  efforts  to  turn  this 
flank,  and  two  of  these  corps  were  rendered 
useless." 

"  These  corps  numbered  an  aggregate  of 
40,000,  while  the  Confederates  from  first  to 
last  had  but  barely  14,000  men." 

The  centre  had  been  fiercely  assailed,  but 
was  held  by  Longstreet  with  Miller's  guns  of 
the  Washington  Artillery,*  and  a  thin  gray 

Hill  to  be,  no  matter  what  their  feelings  may  be  to  me  individually.' 
Mr.  Davis  has  been  charged  with  visiting  personal  animosity  upon 
those  in  his  power  who  were  not  his  personal  admirers. 

"This  is  only  one  instance  among  many  refuting  the  unjust 
assertion.  He  was  so  much  a  man  that  jealousy  and  envy  could 
not  live  in  his  great  soul." 

*  General  Lee's  report  of  the  battle. 


CAMPAIGN  AGAINST  POPE.  365 

line  of  infantry,  some  of  whom  stood  with 
unloaded  guns  without  ammunition,  but  wav 
ing  their  colors  to  give  semblance  of  support. 
This  must  be  one  of  the  severest  tests  to  the 
bravery  of  troops,  to  stand  as  target  without 
the  means  or  the  excitement  of  retaliating. 
All  honor  to  them. 

The  battle  was  fought  against  great  odds, 
and  to  have  resisted  this  mass  of  men  shows 
of  what  stuff  our  soldiers 'were  made. 

All  the  next  day  Lee  remained  on  the 
battle-field,  thinking  McClellan  would  again 
attack,  but  he,  not  being  so  minded,  the  Con 
federate  army  recrossed  the  Potomac  during 
the  night  into  Virginia. 

Late  in  October,  1862,  General  McClellan 
followed  Lee  into  Virginia.  Here  he  was  re 
lieved  and  succeeded  by  General  Burnside. 

On  December  i3th  the  battle  of  Freder- 
icksburg  was  fought. 


CHAPTER   XXXV. 

VISIT  TO  TENNESSEE.— BATTLE  OF  MURFREESBORO. 

THE  President  became  anxious  about  affairs 
in  the  West,  and  was  importuned  to  make  a 
tour  of  observation,  there.  As  soon  as  he 
could  leave  the  seat  of  government  he  went, 
accompanied  by  one  of  his  aids,  and  subse 
quently  wrote  to  me  the  following  letter  : 

From  President  to  Mrs.  Davis. 

"CHATTANOOGA,  TENN.,  December  15,  1862. 

" .  ..  ,  We  had  a  pleasant  trip,  and  with 
out  an  incident  to  relate,  reached  this  place 
on  the  I  ith,  went  to  Murfreesboro  on  the  1 2th, 
and  leave  to-day  for  Mississippi.  The  troops 
at  Murfreesboro  were  in  fine  spirits  and  well 
supplied.  The  enemy  keep  close  in  lines  about 
Nashville,  which  place  is  too  strongly  fortified 
and  garrisoned  for  attack  by  troops  unpre 
pared  for  regular  approaches  on  fortifications. 
Much  confidence  was  expressed  in  our  ability 
to  beat  them  if  they  advance.  .  .  .  Last 
night,  on  my  arrival  here,  a  telegram  an 
nounced  the  attack  made  at  Fredericksburg. 
You  can  imagine  my  anxiety.  No  answer  to 


VISIT   TO    TENNESSEE.  367 

my  inquiry  for  further  information  has  yet  ar 
rived.  If  the  necessity  demands  I  will  return 
to  Richmond,  though  already  there  are  indica 
tions  of  a  strong  desire  for  me  to  visit  the  fur 
ther  West,  expressed  in  terms  which  render 
me  unwilling  to  disappoint  the  expectation. 
.  .  .  General  Johnston  will  go  directly  to 
Mississippi,  and  reinforce  General  Pember- 
ton.  Joe  *  was  quite  excited  at  hearing  of 
active  operations  behind  us,  and  spoke  of  re 
turning  to  his  brigade.  Many  of  the  officers 
inquired  for  Colonel  Johnston  and  felt  as  I 
did,  regret  at  his  absence." 

The  results  of  the  campaigns  of  the  army 
of  the  West  have  been  better  presented  than 
I  could  tell  them,  even  if  space  were  granted 
me  for  the  purpose ;  but  my  husband's  life 
was  so  full  of  events  that  I  must  confine  my 
self  strictly  to  his  personal  history. 

The  moral  effects  of  the  campaign  of  1862 
were  great.  The  disasters  of  the  early  part 
of  the  year  had  been  redeemed.  The  whole 
world  paid  homage  to  the  military  prowess  and 
genius  that  the  Confederates  had  exhibited. 
They  had  raised  the  siege  of  Richmond, 
threatened  the  Federal  Capital,  and  driven 
back  the  invaders  of  their  territory  to  their 
starting-point.  "  Whatever  may  be  the  fate 

*  General  Joseph  R.  Davis. 


368      .  JEFFERSON  DAVIS. 

of  the  new  nationality,"  said  the  London 
Times,  "in  its  subsequent  claims  to  the  re 
spect  of  mankind  it  will  assuredly  begin  its 
career  with  a  reputation  for  genius  and  valor 
which  the  most  famous  nations  might  envy." 


CHAPTER   XXXVI. 

INTRODUCTION  TO   1863. 

THE  year  1863  opened  drearily  for  the 
President,  but  the  Confederates  generally 
seemed  to  have,  for  some  unexplained  cause, 
renewed  hope  of  recognition  by  England  and 
France,  and  with  this  they  felt  sure  of  a  suc 
cessful  termination  of  the  struggle. 

Mr.  Davis  was  oppressed  by  the  fall  of 
Donelson,  Nashville,  Corinth,  Roanoke  Isl 
and,  New  Orleans,  Yorktown,  Norfolk,  Fort 
Pillow,  Island  No.  10,  Memphis,  General 
Bragg's  defeat  at  Murfreesboro,  the  burning 
of  the  Virginia  and  the  ram  Mississippi,  the 
sinking  of  the  Arkansas,  and  other  minor  dis 
asters.  The  victory  at  Fredericksburg  was 
the  one  bright  spot  in  all  this  dark  picture. 

Complaints  from  the  people  of  the  subju 
gated  States  came  in  daily.  Women  were 
set  adrift  across  our  borders  with  their  chil 
dren,  penniless  and  separated  from  all  they 
held  dear.  Their  property  was  confiscated, 
the  newspapers  were  suppressed,  and  the 
presses  sold  under  the  Confiscation  act. 

In  Tennessee,  county  officers  were  nom- 
VOL.  II.— 24 


37o  JEFFERSON  DA  VIS. 

inated,  and  an  election  held.  Andrew  John 
son,  Governor  of  Tennessee,  announced,  "  It 
is  not  expected  that  the  enemies  of  the 
United  States  will  propose  to  vote,  nor  is  it 
intended  that  they  be  permitted  to  vote,  or 
hold  office  ;  "  and  an  "  iron-clad  oath  "  was  de 
vised  and  forced  upon  all  who  desired  any 
position  in  the  municipal  or  State  Govern 
ment,  or  even  to  engage  in  industrial  pur 
suits.  A  convention  was  held  to  amend  the 
constitution  of  Tennessee,  and  the  amend 
ments  were  ratified  by  twenty-five  thousand 
majority,  when  in  1860  the  State  vote  was 
one  hundred  and  forty  thousand. 

Peaceful  and  aged  citizens,  unresisting  cap 
tives  and  non-combatants,  were  confined  at 
hard  labor  with  ball  and  chain,  others  were 
ironed  for  selling  medicines  to  ill  Confeder 
ates. 

Prisoners  of  war  were  placed  in  close  con 
finement,  on  bread  and  water.  In  fact,  the 
whole  population  were  given  the  choice  to 
perjure  themselves,  or  starve. 

The  slaves,  after  New  Orleans  was  taken, 
were  driven  from  their  homes,  or  if  left  undis 
turbed  were  forced  to  work  under  bayonet 
guard  on  the  plantations,  the  owners  of  which 
received  a  small  percentage  of  the  gains  if 
they  consented  to  share  their  property  with 
the  General,  his  brother,  or  other  officers. 


INTRODUCTION   TO    1863.  371 

Order  91  sequestrated  all  property  west  of 
the  Mississippi  for  confiscation,  and  officers 
were  assigned  to  the  duty  of  gathering  up 
and  burning  all  the  personal  effects  except 
such  as  the  United  States  might  require  for 
use,  or  intend  to  expose  for  sale  at  auction  in 
New  Orleans. 

Members  of  Congress  were  elected  under 
the  military  government  of  Louisiana.  Mr. 
Lincoln  said,  "  The  war  power  is  now  our 
main  reliance."  An  oath  was  required  from 
all  residents  of  the  conquered  State  to  sup 
port  the  Constitution  and  the  laws  passed  by 
Congress  "  during  the  existing  rebellion," 
unless  they  should  be  modified  or  declared 
void  by  the  Supreme  Court.  One-tenth  of 
any  State  so  far  subjugated  could  demand 
and  obtain  admission  as  independent  States 
in  the  Union.  Provisional  judges  were  ap 
pointed  to  finally  adjudicate  all  cases  of  equi 
ty,  admiralty,  and  criminal  law,  with  the  power 
to  make  all  rules  which  might  be  needful  for 
their  jurisdiction.  Thus  the  military  power 
of  the  Government  in  relentless  grasp  held 
Louisiana  at  its  mercy. 

The  Constitution  said  :  "  The  judicial  power 
of  the  United  States  shall  be  vested  in  one 
Supreme  Court  and  in  such  inferior  courts  as 
the  Congress  may  from  time  to  time  ordain 
and  establish." 


372  JEFFERSON  DAVIS. 

Mr.  Lincoln  swore,  in  1861,  to  sustain  the 
Constitution  and  the  laws  under  it.  The  con 
trast  is  sharp  and  significant  of  the  progress 
of  a  Northern  revolution.  "  Silent  leges  inter 
arma."  Under  his  rule  the  old  landmarks 
seemed  to  be  blotted  out. 

The  horrors  of  military  rule  and  recon 
struction  were  too  numerous  for  particulari- 
zation  here.  I  leave  them  to  the  historian. 

"  When  the  war  closed,  who  were  the  vic 
tors  ?  Perhaps  it  is  too  soon  to  answer  that 
question.  Nevertheless,  every  day,  as  time 
rolls  on,  we  look  with  increasing  pride  upon 
the  struggle  our  people  made  for  constitu 
tional  liberty.  :  The  war  was  one  in  which 
fundamental  principles  were  involved  ;  and, 
as  force  decides  no  truth,  hence  the  issue  is 
still  undetermined,  as  has  been  already  shown. 
We  have  laid  aside  our  swords;  we  have 
ceased  our  hostility  ;  we  have  conceded  the 
physical  strength  of  the  Northern  States. 
But  the  question  still  lives,  and  all  nations 
and  peoples  that  adopt  a  confederated  agent 
of  government  will  become  champions  of  our 
cause.  While  contemplating  the  Northern 
States — with  their  Federal  Constitution  gone, 
ruthlessly  destroyed  under  the  tyrant's  plea 
of '  necessity/  their  State  sovereignty  made  a 
byword,  and  their  people  absorbed  in  an  ag 
gregated  mass,  no  longer  as  their  fathers  left 


INTRODUCTION  TO  1863.  373 

them,  protected  by  reserved  rights  against 
usurpation — the  question  naturally  arises  : 
On  which  side  was  the  victory  ?  Let  the 
verdict  of  mankind  decide."- 

The  steady  depletion  of  the  Confederate 
forces  and  the  consequent  success  of  the  ene 
my,  increased  the  sufferings  of  our  people  ; 
suffering  made  them  querulous,  and  they 
looked  about  to  find  the  person  to  blame  for 
their  misfortune.  Some  of  them  found  the 
culprit  in  the  President.  The  most  hopeful 
man  might  be  expected  to  lose  heart  under 
this  heavy  load,  but  Mr.  Davis's  faith  in  God's 
interposition  to  protect  the  right  never  fal 
tered,  and  he  steadily  followed  the  dictates  of 
his  conscience,  nothing  daunted  by  our  misfor 
tunes.  Now  a  formidable  manifestation  in  the 
form  of  a  bread  riot  occurred  in  Richmond. 

"On  April  2,  1863,  Mr.  Davis  said  that 
he  received  word  in  his  office  that  a  serious 
disturbance,  which  the  Mayor  and  Governor 
Letcher,  with  the  State  forces  under  his  com 
mand,  were  entirely  unable  to  repress,  was 
in  progress  on  the  streets.  He  at  once 
proceeded  to  the  scene  of  trouble  in  the 
lower  portion  of  the  city,  whither  the  ven 
erable  Mayor  had  preceded  him.  He  found 
a  large  crowd  on  Main  Street,  although  the 
mass  of  the  rioters  were  congregated  on  one 
of  the  side  streets  leading  into  that  thorough- 


374  JEFFERSON  DAVIS. 

fare.  They  were  headed  by  a  tall,  daring, 
Amazonian-looking  woman,  who  had  a  white 
feather  standing  erect  from  her  hat,  and  who 
was  evidently  directing  the  movement  of  the 
plunderers.  The  main  avenue  was  blocked 
by  a  dray  from  which  the  horses  had  been 
taken,  and  which  had  been  hauled  across  the 
street,  and  it  was  particularly  noticeable  that, 
though  the  mob  claimed  that  they  were  starv 
ing  and  wanted  bread,  they  had  not  confined 
their  operations  to  food-supplies,  but  had 
passed  by,  without  any  effort  to  attack,  sev 
eral  provision  stores  and  bakeries,  while  they 
had  completely  emptied  one  jewelry  store, 
and  had  also  '  looted '  some  millinery  and 
clothing  shops  in  the  vicinity.  The  fact  was 
conclusive  to  the  President's  mind  that  it  was 
not  bread  they  wanted,  but  that  they  were 
bent  on  nothing  but  plunder  and  wholesale 
robbery. 

"  At  the  Confederate  Armory  in  Richmond 
were  engaged  a  number  of  armorers  and 
artisans  enrolled  by  General  Gorgas,  chief  of 
ordnance,  to  work  especially  for  the  Govern 
ment.  These  men  had  been  organized  into 
a  military  company  under  the  command  of  a 
captain  whose  bearing  was  that  of  a  trained, 
sturdy  soldier  accustomed  to  obey  orders,  and 
ready  to  do  his  duty  unflinchingly,  no  matter 
what  it  might  be.  This  company  had  been 


INTRODUCTION   TO   1863.  375 

promptly  ordered  to  the  scene  of  the  riot  and 
arrived  shortly  after  the  President. 

"  Mr.  Davis  mounted  the  dray  above  men 
tioned  and  made  a  brief  address  to  the  for 
midable  crowd  of  both  sexes,  urging  them  to 
abstain  from  their  lawless  acts.  He  reminded 
them  of  how  they  had  taken  jewelry  and  fin 
ery  instead  of  supplying  themselves  with 
bread,  for  the  lack  of  which  they  claimed  they 
were  suffering.  He  concluded  by  saying : 
'  You  say  you  are  hungry  and  have  no 
money.  Here  is  all  I  have ;  it  is  not  much, 
but  take  it/  He  then,  emptying  his  pockets, 
threw  all  the  money  they  contained  among 
the  mob,  after  which  he  took  out  his  watch 
and  said  :  '  We  do  not  desire  to  injure  any 
one,  but  this  lawlessness  must  stop.  I  will 
give  you  five  minutes  to  disperse,  other 
wise  you  will  be  fired  on/  The  order  was 
given  the  company  to  prepare  for  firing,  and 
the  grim,  resolute  old  Captain — who,  Mr. 
Davis  says,  was  an  old  resident  of  Richmond, 
but  whose  name  he  does  not  recall — gave  his 
men  the  command  :  '  Load  ! '  The  muskets 
were  then  loaded  with  buck  and  ball  car 
tridges,  with  strict  observance  of  military 
usage,  and  everyone  could  see  that  when 
their  stern  commander  received  orders  to  fire 
he  intended  to  shoot  to  kill.  The  mob  evi 
dently  fully  realized  this  fact,  and  at  once  be- 


tf6  JEFFERSON  DAVIS. 

gan  to  disperse,  and  before  the  five  minutes 
had  expired  the  trouble  was  over,  and  the 
famous  misnamed  bread  riot  was  at  an  end." 

This  is  a  succinct  and  truthful  account  of 
this  trouble,  which  created  so  much  excite 
ment  at  the  time,  and  of  the  part  which  ex- 
President  Davis  bore  therein.  The  subject 
having  been  recently  revived  and  extensively 
discussed,  and  quite  a  variety  of  statements 
having  been  made  in  connection  therewith, 
this  account  of  Mr.  Davis  will  be  read  with 
great  interest,  and  all  who  personally  remem 
ber  the  scenes  and  incidents  of  that  memor 
able  occasion  will  no  doubt  fully  substantiate 
its  correctness. 


CHAPTER   XXXVII. 

CHANCELLORSVILLE. 

IN  the  latter  part  of  April,  1863,  General 
Hooker  crossed  the  Rappahannock,  above 
Lee's  .position  at  Fredericksburg,  with  the  in 
tention  of  flanking  and  forcing  him  toward 
Richmond. 

His  army  numbered,  by  his  own  report, 
132,000  men,  and  upon  reaching  Chancellors- 
ville  he  proceeded  to  throw  up  intrenchments. 

Lee's  army,  in  the  absence  of  Longstreet's 
corps,  numbered  57,000  of  all  arms. 

General  Jackson  had  not  entirely  recovered 
from  an  attack  of  diphtheria  and  was  too  weak 
to  have  been  in  the  field,  but  he  felt  the  im 
portance  of  being  present  at  the  impending 
engagement.  The  Federals  under  General 
Hooker  made  a  stand  near  Chancellorsville, 
and  the  west  wing  of  Hooker's  rested  at  Melzi 
Chancellor's  farm,  about  two  miles  from  Chan 
cellorsville.  General  Jackson  formed  his  corps 
into  three  columns  for  attack  and,  as  he  wrote 
in  his  last  despatch  to  General  Lee,  trusted 
"  That  an  ever-kind  Providence  will  bless  us 
with  success."  The  Confederates  rushed  on 


378  -  JEFFERSON  DA  VIS. 

the  earthworks  of  the  enemy  and  took  them 
in  reverse;  here  the  1 1,000  Germans,  the  mer 
cenaries  of  General  Howard,  fled  almost  with 
out  resistance,  carrying  away  with  them  the 
troops  sent  to  their  support.  They  did  not 
even  pause  in  General  Hooker's  intrenched 
camp,  but  fled  in  a  wild  rout,  without  hats  or 
muskets,  to  the  fords  of  the  Rappahannock. 
General  Jackson's  battle-cry  was  V  Press  on 
ward  !  "  At  every  success  he  raised  his  right 
hand  to  heaven  in  prayer  and  thanksgiving. 
Hooker  was  advancing  a  powerful  body  of 
fresh  troops  to  break  General  Jackson's  cor 
don  about  the  Federal  rear.  While  General 
Hooker  pressed  its  front  and  the  front  of 
General  Jackson's  right,  a  heavy  line  of  in 
fantry  was  being  sent  through  the  woods,  pre 
ceded  by  a  flag  of  truce  to  cover  their  ad 
vance.  It  was  followed  closely  by  their  line 
of  battle,  which  poured  a  deadly  fire  into  the 
Confederates.  General  Jackson  had  advanced 
a  hundred  yards  beyond  his  line,  expecting  to 
meet  our  skirmishers — a  volley  of  musketry 
from  the  enemy  proclaimed  their  proximity, 
and  the  General  turned  into  the  woods  and 
met  General  A.  P.  Hill  with  his  staff  coming 
toward  the  party.  General  Jackson's  officers 
were  mistaken  for  the  enemy's  cavalry  and  a 
deadly  fire  poured  in  from  our  line  of  battle, 
killing  Captain  Boswell  outright  and  wound- 


CHANCELLORSVILLE.  379 

ing  many  others,  and  "  woe  worth  the  day," 
General  Jackson.  His  right  hand  was  pene 
trated  by  a  ball,  his  left  forearm  was  torn  and 
broken  near  to  the  shoulder,  and  the  artery 
severed.  His  horse  dashed  toward  the  en 
emy  and  lacerated  the  General's  face  and  head 
by  dragging  him  under  the  boughs  of  trees  ; 
but  he  seized  the  rein  with  his  right  hand  and 
brought  the  animal  back  to  our  lines.  He 
tried  to  dismount,  but,  with  an  anxious  look 
over  toward  his  troops,  he  fainted  and  fell 
from  his  saddle.  After  some  little  delay  he 
was  placed  in  a  litter,  but  had  only  been  there 
a  few  minutes  when  one  of  his  bearers  was 
shot  down  and  the  General  fell,  but  Major 
Leigh  bore  him  up  before  he  reached  the 
ground.  Such  a  hurricane  of  shot  and  shell 
was  poured  down  the  causeway  that  the  rest 
of  the  bearers  fled  and  left  Jackson  on  the  lit 
ter,  where  he  lay  with  his  feet  to  the  foe. 
Major  Leigh  and  Lieutenant  Smith  lay  down 
beside  their  Commander  and  protected  him 
with  their  bodies  until  the  firing  ceased,  then 
the  litter  was  borne  toward  our  troops,  when 
the  party  met  General  Fender,  who  said  he 
feared  he  could  not  hold  his  ground.  In  a 
feeble  voice  General  Jackson  gave  his  last 
military  order,  "  General  Fender,  you  must 
keep  your  men  together  and  hold  your 
ground,"  The  litter  was  carried  through  the 


380  J'EF PERSON  DAVIS. 

woods  to  avoid  the  enemy's  fire,  the  boughs 
of  the  brushwood  tore  the  sufferer's  face  and 
clothing,  and  at  last  the  foot  of  one  of  the 
bearers  became  entangled  in  a  vine  ;  he  fell 
and  the  General  was  thrown  heavily  upon  his 
wounded  side,  which  bruised  the  wounds 
dreadfully  and  renewed  the  hemorrhage. 

Next  day,  when  Lee  and  Stuart,  who  had 
succeeded  Jackson  in  command,  had  joined 
forces,  they  captured  the  works  of  the  enemy. 

General  Sedgwick,  after  being  delayed 
twenty-four  hours  by  Early  at  Fredericks- 
burg,  marched  to  the  relief  of  Hooker,  threat 
ening  thereby  the  Confederate  rear.  General 
Lee  turned  with  General  McLaws's  five 
brigades  (including  Wilcox's,  who  had  fallen 
back  from  Fredericksburg),  and  General  An 
derson  with  three  additional  brigades,  turned 
upon  Sedgwick. 

General  Early  brought  up  his  troops  in  the 
afternoon  of  the  4th,  and  the  corps  of  Sedg 
wick  was  broken  and  driven  to  the  river,  which 
he  crossed  during  the  night. 

On  the  5th,  General  Lee  concentrated  for 
another  assault,  but  on  the  morning  of  the 
6th  he  learned  that  Hooker  "  had  sought 
safety  beyond  the  Rappahannock."  *  -v< 

When  General  Jackson  arrived  at  the  field 

*  General  Lee's  report. 


CHANCELLORSVILLE.  381 

hospital  his  arm  was  amputated,  and  he 
seemed  to  rally  somewhat,  and  was  most  anx 
ious  to  get  on  by  easy  journeys  to  Lexington. 
The  proximity  of  the  enemy  made  his  removal 
also  desirable,  and  it  was  determined  to  re 
move  him  to  Guinea  Station.  On  the  way 
pneumonia  set  in,  and  all  now  felt  this  pre 
cious  life  hung  on  a  thread.  Mrs.  Jackson 
had  been  sent  for,  and  came,  bringing  baby 
Julia.  When  the  baby  was  set  on  his  bed 
side,  her  father  caressed  her  with  his  wound 
ed  hand,  murmuring  in  a  faint  voice,  "  Little 
darling,"  from  time  to  time.  Now  his  darling 
is  "  dead  in  her  beauty,"  and  it  may  be  that 
he  is  teaching  her  the  song  of  the  Redeemed 
in  the  mansion  prepared  for  her. 

He  rendered  thanks  for  every  service  per 
formed  by  those  about  him,  and  many  times 
reaffirmed  his  submission  and  trust  in  God, 
begged  his  wife  to  speak  aloud,  because  he 
wanted  to  "  hear  every  word "  she  said. 
Mrs.  Jackson,  though  racked  by  grief,  joined 
those  about  his  bed  in  singing  hymns  which 
seemed  to  quiet  him.  When  at  last  he  had 
but  a  few  moments  to  live,  she  announced  it 
to  him.  He  answered,  "  I  prefer  it.  I  will 
be  an  infinite  gainer  to  be  translated."  When 
his  mind  wandered,  he  called  out,  "  A.  P. 
Hill,  prepare  for  action,"  and  several  times, 
"  Tell  Major  Hawks  to  send  forward  provi- 


382  JEFFERSON  DAVIS. 

sions  for  the  men,"  even  in  his  dying  moments 
being  intent  on  ministering  to  them. 

When  General  Lee  heard  of  his  extremity 
he  said,  "  Tell  him  I  wrestled  in  prayer  for 
him  last  night  as  I  never  prayed,  I  believe, 
for  myself." 

General  Jackson  died  about  three  o'clock 
in  the  afternoon.  His  last  words  were,  "  Let 
us  pass  over  the  river,  and  rest  under  the 
shade  of  the  trees."  All  the  evening  before, 
Mr  Davis,  unable  to  think  of  anything  but 
the  impending  calamity,  sat  silent  until  twelve 
or  one  o'clock.  When  news  came  that  the 
General  was  sinking,  the  burthen  of  Mr. 
Davis's  regret  was  that  he  was  helpless  to 
serve  or  comfort  him  in  any  way.  We  kept  a 
servant  at  the  telegraph  office  to  bring  the 
latest  news,  and  sent  one  to  every  train,  where 
other  people  in  crowds  were,  on  the  same  er 
rand.  Before  the  engine  slacked  up  in  Broad 
Street,  the  crowd  shouted  to  the  engineer, 
"How  is  he?  Is  he  better?"  At  eleven 
o'clock  the  next  morning  the  body  was 
brought  down,  wrapped  in  a  handsome  flag 
Mr.  Davis  had  sent  for  the  purpose.  There 
was  not  standing  room  in  the  broad  street  as 
the  cortege  moved  to  the  Governor's  house. 

There  we  went  to  take  a  last  look  at  the 
patriot  saint,  whose  face  still  bore  the  marks 
of  the  anguish  he  had  suffered.  A  tear 


CHAN  CELL  ORS  VILLE.  383 

dropped  on  the  face  as  Mr.  Davis  leant  over 
the  dead  hero ;  and  when  a  man  came  to  the 
mansion  and  attempted  to  talk  of  some  busi 
ness  matter  to  him,  he  remained  silent  for  a 
while  and  then  said,  "  You  must  excuse  me. 
I  am  still  staggering  from  a  dreadful  blow.  I 
cannot  think." 

The  body  lay  in  state  in  the  Capitol,  where 
a  constant  procession  of  weeping  mourners 
passed  slowly  by  for  three  days  and  until  late 
in  the  night.  When  at  last  the  beloved  form 
was  taken  to  its  last  resting-place,  the  streets, 
the  windows,  and  the  house-tops  were  one 
palpitating  mass  of  weeping  women  and  men. 
The  only  other  scene  like  it  that  I  saw  during 
the  war  was  the  crowd  assembled  when  Mr. 
Davis  was  brought  through  Richmond  to  be 
bailed. 


CHAPTER   XXXVIII. 

GETTYSBURG. 

IN  the  month  of  May,  1863,  General  R.  E. 
Lee's  army  rested  near  Fredericksburg,  while 
the  Federal  army  under  General  Hooker  oc 
cupied  their  old  camps  across  the  Rappahan- 
nock.  Early  in  the  month  of  June,  finding 
that  the  Federal  commander  was  not  disposed 
again  to  cross  swords  with  him,  for  the  pur 
pose  of  drawing  him  away  from  Virginia,  so 
that  her  people  might  raise  and  gather  their 
crops,  Lee  began  a  movement  that  culmi 
nated  in  the  battle  of  Gettysburg. 

Ewell's  corps  was  sent  on  in  advance,  and 
at  Winchester  routed  and  put  to  flight  the 
enemy  under  General  Milroy,  capturing  4,000 
prisoners  and  their  small-arms,  28  pieces  of 
artillery,  300  wagons  and  their  horses,  and 
large  amounts  of  ordnance,  commissary,  and 
quartermaster  stores  ;  then  crossing  the  Po 
tomac,  he  passed  through  Maryland  and 
into  Pennsylvania.* 

*  "  HEADQUARTERS,  ARMY  OF  NORTHERN  VIRGINIA, 

"  CHAMBERSBURG,  Pa.,  June  27,  1863. 
"General  Orders,  No.  73. 
' '  The  Commanding  General  has  observed  with  marked  satisfac- 


GETTYSBURG.  '^85 

General  A.  P.  Hill  with  his  three  divisions 
followed  in  his  rear. 

General  Longstreet  covered  these  move 
ments  with  his  corps,  then  passing  into  the 
valley,  he  too  crossed  the  Potomac. 

To   General    Stuart   was  left  the  task    of 


tion  the  conduct  of  the  troops  on  the  march,  and  confidently 
anticipates  results  commensurate  with  the  high  spirit  they  have 
manifested. 

"No  troops  could  have  displayed,  or  better  performed,  the 
arduous  march  of  the  past  ten  days. 

"  Their  conduct  in  other  respects  has,  with  few  exceptions,  been 
in  keeping  with  their  character  as  soldiers. 

"  There  have,  however,  been  instances  of  forgetfulness  on  the  part 
of  some  that  they  have  in  keeping  the  yet  unsullied  reputation  of 
this  army,  and  that  the  duties  exacted  of  us  by  civilization  and 
Christianity  are  not  less  obligatory  in  the  country  of  the  enemy  than 
in  our  own. 

"The  Commanding  General  considers  that  no  greater  disgrace 
could  befall  the  army,  and  through  it  our  whole  people,  than  the  per 
petration  of  the  barbarous  outrages  upon  the  innocent  and  defence 
less,  and  the  wanton  destruction  of  private  property,  that  have 
marked  the  course  of  the  enemy  in  our  own  country.  Such  pro 
ceedings  not  only  disgrace  the  perpetrators  and  all  connected  with 
them,  but  are  subversive  of  the  discipline  and  efficiency  of  the  army, 
and  destructive  to  the  ends  of  our  present  movement. 

"  It  must  be  remembered  that  we  make  war  only  upon  armed  men, 
and  that  we  cannot  take  vengeance  for  the  wrongs  our  people  have 
suffered  without  lowering  ourselves  in  the  eyes  of  all  those  whose 
abhorrence  has  been  excited  by  the  atrocities  of  our  enemy,  and 
offending  against  Him  to  whom  vengeance  belongeth,  without  whose 
favor  and  support  our  efforts  must  all  prove  in  vain. 

"  The  Commanding  General  therefore  earnestly  exhorts  the 
troops  to  abstain  with  most  scrupulous  care  from  unnecessary  or 
wanton  injury  to  private  property  ;  and  he  enjoins  upon  all  officers 
to  arrest  and  bring  to  summary  punishment  all  who  shall  in  any  way 
offend  against  the  orders  on  this  subject. 

"  R.  E.  LEE,  General:' 
VOL.  II.— 25 


386  JEFFERSON  DA  VIS. 

watching1  with  his  cavalry  the  movements  of 
the  enemy. 

The  Federal  Commander  had  meanwhile 
disposed  his  force  so  as  to  cover  Washington, 
and  learning  the  movements  of  General  Lee, 
he  too  crossed  the  Potomac. 

On  June  27th,  General  Lee  was  at 
Chambersburg,  while  Hill,  Longstreet,  and 
Ewell  were  within  supporting  distance. 

Stuart  with  the  cavalry  was  absent,  and 
the  lack  of  it  prevented  Lee  from  being 
apprised  of  the  near  approach  of  the  enemy. 
It  was  an  army  without  "  eyes  and  ears." 

Moving  forward  from  Chambersburg, 
General  Lee  reached  Cashtown  on  July  ist, 
where  A.  P.  Hill  was  concentrating. 

Here  the  Federal  cavalry  was  first  encoun 
tered,  and  as  Hill's  troops  moved  forward, 
they  were  met  also  by  Reynolds's  First  Corps 
of  the  Federal  infantry. 

Stuart  was  still  absent,  but  Lee,  feeling  in 
the  dark,  had  encountered  the  Federal  army. 

Ewell's  corps  was  called  in,  and  a  severe 
engagement  ensued,  which  lasted  until  night 
fall,  when  the  Federals  retreated  through  the 
town  of  Gettysburg,  leaving  in  the  hands  of 
the  Confederates  over  five  thousand  prison 
ers. 

The  Federal  General  Reynolds  was  killed. 

During   the    night,   the    Federals    concen- 


GETTYSBURG.  387 

trated  and  fortified  a  ridge  of  high  ground 
from  Cemetery  Hill  running  back  of  the  town 
on  the  right,  to  Round  Top  on  the  left.  Here 
they  confronted  Lee  on  July  2d.  At  four 
o'clock  on  July  2d,  Longstreet's  corps,  except 
Pickett,  who  had  not  yet  arrived,  assailed  the 
extreme  left  of  the  Federal  line.  Longstreet 
gained  ground  up  to  the  Emmettsburg  road, 
and  captured  artillery  and  colors.  General 
Hood  was  wounded,  and  Generals  Barksdale 
and  Semmes  were  killed. 

Swell's  divisions  (at  8  P.M.)  charged  up 
the  Cemetery  Hill,  over  the  crest  and  the 
stone  walls,  and  met  the  enemy  in  a  hand  to 
hand  contest ;  the  crest  gained,  they  held  it 
until  compelled  to  retire  by  the  advance  of 
the  enemy  in  overwhelming  force. 

On  July  3d,  General  Lee,  encouraged  by 
the  successes  of  the  two  preceding  days,  de 
termined,  to  endeavor  to  break  through  the 
enemy's  centre,  and  for  that  purpose,  Pick- 
ett's  division,  just  arrived,  and  numbering 
4,760  officers  and  men,  with  Heth's  division 
on  its  left,  and  Wilcox's  brigade  on  its  right, 
and  with  Lane's  and  Scales's  brigades  under 
General  Trimble,  as  supports,  were  aligned 
for  the  attack. 

At  1.30  P.M.,  at  a  signal  of  two  guns  fired 
in  quick  succession,  from  a  position  on  the 
Confederate  right,  on  the  Emmettsburg  road, 


388  JEFFERSON  DA  VIS. 

137  guns  opened  fire  on  the  Federal  lines, 
who  replied  with  80.  Colonel  Miller  Owen, 
an  eye-witness,  gives  a  spirited  description 
of  the  charge. 

"  For  nearly  two  hours  the  dreadful  din 
continued,  until  the  fire  of  the  Federal  batter 
ies  greatly  decreased  or  was  silenced  ;  then 
the  Confederate  divisions,  numbering  less 
than  13,000  men,  rose  up  and  dressed  their 
ranks  for  the  great  charge  on  Cemetery  Hill. 

"  It  was  a  desperate  undertaking,  and  the 
men  realized  it,  and  were  heard  bidding  each 
other  good-by  from  rank  to  rank. 

"  General  Pickett  galloped  over  to  Gene 
ral  Longstreet,  and  said,  '  General,  shall  I 
advance  ?  '  Receiving  no  reply,  he  saluted 
and  said,  '  I  am  going  to  lead  my  division 
forward,  sir/  and  galloped  off  to  put  it  in 
motion. 

"Soon  afterward  the  gray  line  emerged 
from  the  trees  skirting  the  Emmettsburg 
road,  Garnett's  brigade  on  the  left,  Kem- 
per's  on  the  right,  and  Armistead's  in  the 
rear  of  the  centre.  Garnett  had  been  unwell 
for  several  days,  and  in  spite  of  the  excess 
ive  heat  of  the  weather,  was  buttoned  up  in 
a  heavy  blue  overcoat. 

"  Pickett's  men  went  forward  with  great 
steadiness,  closing  up  their  ranks  as  fast  as 
breaches  were  made  by  the  Federal  artillery, 


GETTYSBURG.  389 

which  had  again  opened  fire.  The  divis 
ion  of  Heth,  now  commanded  by  Pettigrew, 
and  numbering  about  4,300  men,  and  the 
supporting  brigades  of  North  Carolinians  of 
Lane  and  Scales  under  General  Trimble, 
moved  forward  on  his  left  flank,  and  Wilcox's 
Alabama  brigade  upon  his  right.  Some  of 
the  artillery  moved  forward  also,  and  fired 
over  the  heads  of  the  advancing  troops. 

"  The  charge  was  watched  with  anxious  in 
terest  by  those  of  the  Confederates  not  par 
ticipating. 

"  Now  Garnett,  Kemper,  and  Armistead 
are  close  up  'to  the  stone  wall,  from  behind 
which  the  enemy  are  lying  and  firing  ;  they 
are  over  it,  and  fighting  hand  to  hand  over 
eleven  captured  cannon  ;  the  hillside  is  blue 
with  the  smoke  of  cannon  and  musketry,  and 
all  seems  going  well. 

"  Pettigrew  has  moved  steadily  forward  on 
Pickett's  left,  Archer's  Alabama  and  Tennes 
see  brigade  commanded  by  Colonel  B.  D. 
Fry  on  the  right,  Pettigrew's  own  North 
Carolina  brigade,  commanded  by  Colonel  J. 
K.  Marshal  on  the  right  centre,  General  J. 
Davis's  Mississippi  brigade  on  the  left  cen 
tre,  and  Brockenbrough's  Virginia  brigade  on 
the  left. 

"  These  troops  received  the  enemy's  fire 
until  they  reached  a  post  and  rail  fence  be- 


390  JEFFERSON  DAVIS. 

yond  the  Emmettsburg  road.  There  they 
were  opened  upon  by  a  galling-  fire  of  cannis- 
ter  and  shrapnel ;  still  the  line  remained 
steady  and  the  advance  continued. 

"  More  fences  were  encountered,  and  the 
alignment  was  disturbed ;  still  on  they 
charged,  keeping  in  line  with  Pickett. 

"  When  within  range  of  the  enemy's  line,  a 
heavy  fire  of  musketry  was  delivered  into 
their  ranks,  yet  there  was  no  check. 

"  Archer's  brigade  reached  the  enemy  first 
in  close  contest,  and  the  whole  division  gal 
lantly  dashed  up  to  the  stone  wall  behind 
which  the  enemy  was  strongly  posted.* 

"  Subject  to  a  galling  fire  which  reduced 
their  ranks,  and  finding  further  gallant  effort 
hopeless,  the  division  fell  back  in  some  con 
fusion. 

"  The  brigades  of  Lane  and  Scales  still 
tenaciously  hold  the  enemy's  line  that  they 
have  crossed,  and  the  close  combat  continues 
in  the  little  clump  of  trees  on  the  ridge.  Wil- 
cox  with  his  brigade  charged  on  Pickett's 
right  flank  up  to  the  Federal  line,  but  being 
overwhelmed  by  numbers,  withdrew. 

"  And    now   the    Federals    massed   upon 

*  The  fact  that  the  right  of  Pettigrew's  division  touched  Pickett's 
left,  is  fixed  in  Lieutenant  Finlay's  (Fifty-sixth  Virginia  Infantry) 
mind,  by  having  shaken  hands  with  one  of  Pettigrew's  captains,  who 
exclaimed  enthusiastically,  "We  will  stand  together  at  this  wall." — 
JOHN  B.  BATCHELDOR. 


GETTYSBURG.  391 

Pickett's  and  Trimble's  front,  and  upon  their 
flanks  ;  Garnett  and  Armistead  were  both 
killed,  and  Kemper  badly  wounded.  The 
men  were  falling  fast,  or  yielding  themselves 
to  the  overwhelming  foe,  the  charge  had 
failed,  and  the  brave  survivors  of  this  grand 
assault  recrossed  the  blood-stained  field,  and 
reformed  their  depleted  ranks  in  the  wood  of 
Seminary  Hill,  from  which  they  had  lately 
advanced  so  gallantly  to  the  charge. 

"  There  they  found  General  Lee,  riding 
calmly  up  and  down  the  lines,  with  only  words 
of  encouragement  upon  his  lips.  *  Never 
mind,'  he  said,  as  he  urged  them  to  form, 
'  we'll  talk  of  this  afterward  ;  now,  we  want 
all  good  men  to  rally/  '  All  will  be  well.'  " 

Mr.  Davis  thus  writes  of  Gettysburg  in  his 
"  Rise  and  Fall :  " 

"The  battle  of  Gettysburg  has  been  the 
subject  of  an  unusual  amount  of  discussion, 
and  the  enemy  has  made  it  a  matter  of  ex 
traordinary  exultation.  As  an  affair  of  arms 
it  was  marked  by  mighty  feats  of  valor,  to 
which  both  combatants  may  point  with  mili 
tary  pride.  It  was  a  graceful  thing  in  Presi 
dent  Lincoln  if,  as  reported,  when  he  was 
shown  the  steeps  which  the  Northern  men 
persistently  held,  he  answered  :  '  I  am  proud 
to  be  the  countryman  of  the  men  who  as 
sailed  those  heights/  " 


CHAPTER   XXXIX. 

-      GENERAL  LEE'S   OFFER  OF  RESIGNATION. 

THE  President  was  a  prey  to  the  acutest 
anxiety  during  this  period,  and  again  and 
again  said,  "  If  I  could  take  one  wing  and  Lee 
the  other,  I  think  we  could  between  us  wrest 
a  victory  from  those  people."  At  another  time 
he  exclaimed,  "  With  Jackson,  Lee  would  be 
on  his  feet." 

When  General  Lee  had  returned  to  Vir 
ginia  after  his  repulse  at  Gettysburg,  although 
he  had  -withdrawn  his  army  thoroughly  organ 
ized,  with  confidence  and  pride  unimpaired, 
and  was  in  full  possession  of  his  legitimate 
line  of  defence,  he  was  conscious  that  all  had 
not  been  accomplished  which  the  late  advance 
was  designed  to  compass. 

The  tone  of  the  public  press  and  the  senti 
ment  of  the  country  indicated  dissatisfaction 
with  the  result  of  the  campaign,  from  which 
grander  achievements  had  been  expected  than 
the  number  of  troops  and  extent  of  our  re 
sources  justified.  General  Lee  could  not  re 
main  entirely  indifferent  or  unaffected  by  such 
expressions. 


GEN.  LEE^S  OFFER  OF  RESIGNATION.     393 

•As  he  paced  before  his  camp-fire  on  the 
night  of  July  4th,  when  his  army  was  march 
ing  by  on  its  way  to  the  Potomac,  he  said  to 
General  Longstreet  in  the  presence  of  other 
officers  :  "  It  is  all  my  fault."  So  at  Camp 
Orange,  with  manly  dignity  and  generosity 
as  remarkable  as  it  is  rare,  denying  no  re 
sponsibility,  indulging  in  no  censures,  he 
took  upon  himself  alone  the  soul-depressing 
burden  of  the  day,  and  wrote  to  the  President 
the  following  touching  and  noble  letter  : 

"CAMP  ORANGE,  August  8,  1863. 

"  MR.  PRESIDENT  :  Your  letters  of  July 
28th  and  August  26.  have  been  received,  and 
I  have  waited  for  a  leisure  hour  to  reply,  but 
I  fear  that  will  never  come.  I  am  extremely 
obliged  to  you  for  the  attention  given  to  the 
wants  of  this  army,  and  the  efforts  made  to 
supply  them.  Our  absentees  are  returning, 
and  I  hope  the  earnest  and  beautiful  appeal 
made  to  the  country  in  your  proclamation 
may  stir  up  the  whole  people,  and  that  they 
may  see  their  duty  and  perform  it.  Nothing 
is  wanted  but  that  their  fortitude  should  equal 
their  bravery,  to  insure  the  success  of  our 
cause.  We  must  expect  reverses,  even  de 
feats.  They  are  sent  to  teach  us  wisdom  and 
prudence,  to  call  forth  greater  energies,  and 
to  prevent  our  falling  into  greater  disasters. 


394  JEFFERSON  DAVIS. 

Our  people  have  only  to  be  true  and  united, 
to  bear  manfully  the  misfortunes  incident  to 
war,  and  all  will  come  right  in  the  end. 

"  I  know  how  prone  we  are  to  censure,  and 
how  ready  to  blame  others  for  the  non-fulfil 
ment  of  our  expectations.  This  is  unbecom 
ing1  in  a  generous  people,  and  I  grieve  to  see 
its  expression.  The  general  remedy  for  the 
want  of  success  in  a  military  commander  is 
his  removal.  This  is  natural,  and  in  many 
instances  proper.  For,  no  matter  what  may 
be  the  ability  of  the  officer,  if  he  loses  the 
confidence  of  his  troops,  disaster  must  sooner 
or  later  ensue. 

"  I  have  been  prompted  by  these  reflections 
more  than  once,  since  my  return  from  Penn 
sylvania,  to  propose  to  your  Excellency  the 
propriety  of  selecting  another  commander  for 
this  army.  I  have  seen  and  heard  of  expres 
sions  of  discontent  in  the  public  journals  at 
the  result  of  the  expedition.  I  do  not  know 
how  far  this  feeling  extends  in  the  army.  My 
brother  officers  have  been  too  kind  to  report 
it,  and  so  far  the  troops  have  been  too  gen 
erous  to  exhibit  it.  It  is  fair,  however,  to  sup 
pose  that  it  does  exist,  and  success  is  so  nec 
essary  to  us  that  nothing  should  be  risked  to 
secure  it.  I  therefore,  in  all  sincerity,  request 
your  Excellency  to  take  measures  to  supply 
my  place.  I  do  this  with  the  more  earnest- 


GEN.  LEE^S  OFFER  OF  RESIGNATION.     395 

ness  because  no  one  is  more  aware  than  my 
self  of  my  inability  for  the  duties  of  my  posi 
tion.  I  cannot  even  accomplish  what  I  myself 
desire.  How  can  I  fulfil  the  expectations  of 
others  ?  In  addition,  I  sensibly  feel  the  grow 
ing  failure  of  my  bodily  strength.  I  have  not 
yet  recovered  from  the  attack  I  experienced  the 
past  spring.  I  am  becoming  more  and  more 
incapable  of  exertion,  and  am  thus  prevented 
from  making  the  personal  examinations  and 
giving  the  personal  supervision  to  the  opera 
tions  in  the  field  which  I  feel  to  be  necessary. 
I  am  so  dull  that  in  making  use  of  the  eyes 
of  others  I  am  frequently  misled.  Everything, 
therefore,  points  to  the  advantages  to  be  de 
rived  from  a  new  commander,  and  I  the  more 
anxiously  urge  the  matter  upon  your  Excel 
lency,  from  my  belief  that  a  younger  and  abler 
man  than  myself  can  readily  be  obtained.  I 
know  that  he  will  have  as  gallant  and  brave  an 
army  as  ever  existed  to  second  his  efforts,  and 
it  would  be  the  happiest  day  of  my  life  to  see 
at  its  head  a  worthy  leader  ;  one  that  would 
accomplish  more  than  I  could  perform,  and  all 
that  I  have  wished.  I  hope  your  Excellency 
will  attribute  my  request  to  the  true  reason, 
the  desire  to  serve  my  country,  and  to  do  all 
in  my  power  to  insure  the  success  of  her  right 
eous  cause. 

"  I  have  no  complaints  to  make  of  anyone 


396  JEFFERSON  DAVIS. 

but  myself.  I  have  received  nothing  but 
kindness  from  those  above  me,  and  the  most 
considerate  attention  from  my  comrades  and 
companions  in  arms.  To  your  Excellency  I 
am  specially  indebted  for  uniform  kindness 
and  consideration.  You  have  done  every 
thing  in  your  power  to  aid  me  in  the  work 
committed  to  my  charge,  without  omitting 
anything  to  promote  the  general  welfare.  I 
pray  that  your  efforts  may  at  length  be 
crowned  with  success,  and  that  you  may  long 
live  to  enjoy  the  thanks  of  a  grateful  people. 

"  With  sentiments  of  great  esteem,  I  am 
very  respectfully  and  truly  yours, 

"  R.  E.  LEE,  General:' 
"To  His  Excellency  JEFFERSON  DAVIS, 

11  President  of  the  Confederate  States" 

The  reply  to  this  letter  by  President  Davis 
so  clearly  illustrates  the  close  and  confidential 
relations  existing  between  these  two  distin 
guished  patriots,  and  is  so  honorable  to  both, 
that  it  is  given  in  full. 

"  RICHMOND,  VA.,  August  n,  1863. 

"  GENERAL  R.  E.  LEE, 
"  Commanding  Army  of  Northern  Virginia. 

"  GENERAL  :  Yours  of  the  8th  instant  has 
been  received.  I  am  glad  that  you  concur 
so  entirely  with  me  as  to  the  wants  of  our 


GEN.  LEE'S  OFFER  OF  RESIGNATION.    397 

country  in  this  trying  hour,  and  am  happy  to 
add  that,  after  the  first  depression  consequent 
upon  our  disasters  in  the  West,  indications 
have  appeared  that  our  people  will  exhibit 
that  fortitude  which  we  agree  in  believing  is 
alone  needful  to  secure  ultimate  success. 

"  It  well  became  Sidney  Johnston,  when 
overwhelmed  by  a  senseless  clamor,  to  admit 
the  rule  that  success  is  the  test  of  merit,  and 
yet  there  is  nothing  which  I  have  found  to  re 
quire  a  greater  effort  of  patience  than  to  bear 
the  criticisms  of  the  ignorant,  who  pronounce 
everything  a  failure  which  does  not  equal 
their  expectations  or  desires,  and  can  see  no 
good  result  which  is  not  in  the  line  of  their 
own  imaginings.  I  admit  the  propriety  of 
your  conclusions,  that  an  officer  who  loses 
the  confidence  of  his  troops  should  have  his 
position  changed,  whatever  may  be  his  ability; 
but  when  I  read  the  sentence,  I  was  not  at 
all  prepared  for  the  application  you  were 
about  to  make.  Expressions  of  discontent  in 
the  public  journals  furnish  but  little  evidence 
of  the  sentiment  of  an  army.  I  wish  it  were 
otherwise,  even  though  all  the  abuse  of  my 
self  should  be  accepted  as  the  results  of  hon 
est  observation. 

"  Were  you  capable  of  stooping  to  it,  you 
could  easily  surround  yourself  with  those  who 
would  fill  the  press  with  your  laudations  and 


398  JEFFERSON  DA  VIS., 

seek  to  exalt  you  for  what  you  have  not  done, 
rather  than  detract  from  the  achievements 
which  will  make  you  and  your  army  the  sub 
ject  of  history,  and  object  of  the  world's  admi 
ration  for  generations  to  come. 

"  I  am  truly  sorry  to  know  that  you  still 
feel  the  effects  of  the  illness  you  suffered  last 
spring,  and  can  readily  understand  the  em 
barrassments  you  experience  in  using  the 
eyes  of  others,  having  been  so  much  accus 
tomed  to  make  your  own  reconnoissances. 
Practice  will,  however,  do  much  to  relieve 
that  embarrassment,  and  the  minute  knowl 
edge  of  the  country  which  you  have  acquired 
will  render  you  less  dependent  for  topograph 
ical  information. 

"  But  suppose,  my  dear  friend,  that  I  were 
to  admit,  with  all  their  implications,  the  points 
which  you  present,  where  am  I  to  find  that 
new  commander  who  is  to  possess  the  great 
er  ability  which  you  believe  to  be  required  ? 
I  do  not  doubt  the  readiness  with  which  you 
would  give  way  to  one  who  could  accomplish 
all  that  you  have  wished,  and  you  will  do  me 
the  justice  to  believe  that,  if  Providence 
should  kindly  offer  such  a  person  for  our  use, 
I  would  not  hesitate  to  avail  of  his  services. 

"  My  sight  is  not  sufficiently  penetrating  to 
discover  such  hidden  merit,  if  it  exists,  and  I 
have  but  used  to  you  the  language  of  sober 


GEN.  LEE'S  OFFER  OF  RESIGNATION.     399 

earnestness,  when  I  have  impressed  upon  you 
the  propriety  of  avoiding  all  unnecessary  ex 
posure  to  danger,  because  I  felt  your  country 
could  not  bear  to  lose  you.  To  ask  me  to 
substitute  you  by  someone  in  my  judgment 
more  fit  to  command,  or  who  would  possess 
more  of  the  confidence  of  the  army,  or  of  re 
flecting  men  in  the  country,  is  to  demand  an 
impossibility. 

"  It  only  remains  for  me  to  hope  that  you 
will  take  all  possible  care  of  yourself,  that 
your  health  and  strength  may  be  entirely  re 
stored,  and  that  the  Lord  will  preserve  you 
for  the  important  duties  devolved  upon  you  in 
the  struggle  of  our  suffering  country  for  the 
independence  of  which  we  have  engaged  in 
war  to  maintain. 

"  As  ever,  very  respectfully  and  truly, 
(Signed)  "  JEFFERSON  DAVIS." 


CHAPTER   XL. 

VICE-PRESIDENT    STEPfrENS'S    COMMISSION    TO 
WASHINGTON. 

As  General  Lee's  army  was  marching 
through  Pennsylvania  it  was  thought  by  the 
Confederate  Authorities  that  the  time  was 
auspicious  for  renewed  efforts  to  adjust,  with 
the  Federal  Government,  the  difficulties  which 
prevented  the  execution  of  the  cartel  for  the 
exchange  of  prisoners  of  war. 

To  promote  these  efforts,  President  Davis 
appointed  Vice-President  Stephens  to  pro 
ceed  to  Washington,  and  endeavor  there  to 
effect  satisfactory  arrangements. 

The  letter  of  instructions  given  by  Presi 
dent  Davis  is  herewith  submitted : 

"RICHMOND,  VA.,  July  2,  1863. 

"  HONORABLE  ALEXANDER  H.  STEPHENS, 

Richmond,  Va. 

"  SIR  :  Having  accepted  your  patriotic  of 
fer  to  proceed  as  a  military  commissioner, 
under  flag  of  truce,  to  Washington,  you  will 
herewith  receive  your  letter  of  authority  to 
the  Commander-in-Chief  of  the  Army  and 
Navy  of  the  United  States. 


OFFICERS  OF  THE  CONFEDERATE  ARMY  AND  NAVY. 


STEPHENS^    COMMISSION.  401 

"  This  letter  is  signed  by  me  as  Com- 
mander-in-Chief  of  the  Confederate  land  and 
naval  forces. 

"  You  will  perceive,  from  the  terms  of  the 
letter,  that  it  is  so  worded  as  to  avoid  any 
political  difficulties  in  its  reception.  Intended 
exclusively  as  one  of  those  communications 
between  belligerents  which  public  law  recog 
nizes  as  necessary  and  proper  between  hostile 
forces,  care  has  been  taken  to  give  no  pre 
text  for  refusing  to  receive  it  on  the  ground 
that  it  would  involve  a  tacit  recognition  of  the 
independence  of  the  Confederacy. 

"  Your  mission  is  simply  one  of  humanity, 
and  has  no  political  aspect. 

"  If  objection  is  made  to  receiving  your 
letter  on  the  ground  that  it  is  not  addressed 
to  Abraham  Lincoln  as  President,  instead  of 
Commander-in-Chief,  etc.,  then  you  will  pre 
sent  the  duplicate  letter,  which  is  addressed 
to  him  as  President,  and  -signed  by  me  as 
President.  To  this  letter  objection  may  be 
made  on  the  ground  that  I  am  not  recognized 
to  be  President  of  the  Confederacy.  In  this 
event,  you  will  decline  any  further  attempt  to 
confer  on  the  subject  of  your  mission,  as  such 
conference  is  admissible  only  on  a  footing  of 
perfect  equality.  . 

"  My  recent  interviews  with  you  have  put 
you  so  fully  in  possession  of  my  views,  that 

Voj,.  II.— 26 


402  JEFFERSON  DA  VIS. 

it  is  scarcely  necessary  to  give  you  any  de 
tailed  instructions,  even  were  I  at  this  mo 
ment  well  enough  to  attempt  it. 

"My  whole  purpose  is,  in  one  word,  to 
place  this  war  on  the  footing  of  such  as  are 
waged  by  civilized  people  in  modern  times, 
and  to  divest  it  of  the  savage  character  which 
has  been  impressed  on  it  by  our  enemies,  in 
spite  of  all  our  efforts  and  protests.  War  is 
full  enough  of  unavoidable  horrors,  under  all 
its  aspects,  to  justify,  and  even  to  demand,  of 
any  Christian  ruler  who  may  unhappily  en 
gage  in  carrying  it  on,  to  seek  to  restrict  its 
calamities,  and  to  divest  it  of  all  unnecessary 
severities.  You  will  endeavor  to  establish  a 
cartel  for  the  exchange  of  prisoners  on  such  a 
basis  as  to  avoid  constant  difficulties  and  com 
plaints  which  arise,  and  to  prevent  for  the  fu 
ture  what  we  deem  the  unfair  conduct  of  our 
enemies,  in  evading  the  delivery  of  prisoners 
who  fall  into  their  hands,  in  retarding  it  by 
sending  them  on  circuitous  routes,  and  by  de 
taining  them  sometimes  for  months  in  camps 
and  prisons,  and  in  persisting  in  taking  cap 
tive  non-combatants. 

"  Your  attention  is  also  called  to  the  un 
heard-of  conduct  of  Federal  officers,  in  driving 
from  their  homes  entire  communities  of  women 
and  children,  as  well  as  of  men,  whom  they 
find  in  districts  occupied  by  their  troops,  for  no 


STEPHENS 'S    COMMISSION.  403 

other  reason  than  because  these  unfortunates 
are  faithful  to  the  allegiance  due  to  their 
States,  and  refuse  to  take  an  oath  of  fidelity 
to  their  enemies. 

"  The  putting  to  death  of  unarmed  prison 
ers  has  been  a  ground  of  just  complaint  in 
more  than  one  instance,  and  the  recent  exe 
cution  of  officers  of  our  army  in  Kentucky,  for 
the  sole  cause  that  they  were  engaged  in  re 
cruiting  service  in  a  State  which  is  claimed  as 
still  one  of  the  United  States,  but  is  also 
claimed  by  us  as  one  of  the  Confederate 
States,  must  be  repressed  by  retaliation  if  not 
unconditionally  abandoned,  because  it  would 
justify  the  like  execution  in  every  other  State 
of  the  Confederacy,  and  the  practice  is  bar 
barous,  uselessly  cruel,  and  can  only  lead  to 
the  slaughter  of  prisoners  on  both  sides,  a  re 
sult  too  horrible  to  contemplate  without  mak 
ing  every  effort  to  avoid  it. 

"  On  these  and  all  kindred  subjects  you  will 
consider  your  authority  full  and  ample  to  make 
such  arrangements  as  will  temper  the  present 
cruel  character  of  the  contest,  and  full  confi 
dence  is  placed  in  your  judgment,  patriotism, 
and  discretion  that,  while  carrying  out  the 
objects  of  your  mission,  you  will  take  care 
that  the  equal  rights  of  the  Confederacy  be 
always  preserved.  "  Very  respectfully, 

"  JEFFERSON  DAVIS." 


404  JEFFERSON  DAVIS. 

"HEADQUARTERS,  RICHMOND,  July  2,  1863. 

"  SIR  :  As  Commander-in-Chief  of  the  land 
and  naval  forces  now  waging  as  against  the 
United  States,  I  have  the  honor  to  address 
this  communication  to  you,  as  Commander-in- 
Chief  of  their  land  and  naval  forces. 

"  Numerous  difficulties  and  disputes  have 
arisen  in  relation  to  the  execution  of  the  car 
tel  of  exchange  heretofore  agreed  on  by  the 
belligerents,  and  the  commissioners  for  the 
exchange  of  prisoners  have  been  unable  to 
adjust  their  differences.  Their  action  on  the 
subject  of  these  differences  is  delayed  and  em 
barrassed  by  the  necessity  of  referring  each 
subject  as  it  arises  to  superior  authority  for 
decision.  I  believe  that  I  have  just  grounds 
for  complaint  against  the  officers  and  forces 
under  your  command  for  breach  of  the  terms 
of  the  cartel,  and,  being  myself  ready  to  exe 
cute  it  at  all  times  in  good  faith,  I  am  not  jus 
tified  in  doubting  the  existence  of  the  same 
disposition  on  your  part. 

"  In  addition  to  this  matter,  I  have  to  com 
plain  of  the  conduct  of  your  officers  and  troops 
in  many  parts  of  the  country,  who  violate  all 
the  rules  of  war  by  carrying  on  hostilities,  not 
only  against  armed  foes,  but  against  non-com 
batants,  aged  men,  women,  and  children ; 
while  others  not  only  seize  such  property  as 
is  required  for  the  use  of  your  forces,  but  de- 


$TEPHENS}S  COMMISSION.  405 

stroy  all  private  property  within  their  reach, 
even  agricultural  implements ;  and  openly 
avow  the  purpose  of  seeking  to  subdue  the 
population  of  the  districts  where  they  are  op 
erating,  by  the  starvation  that  must  result 
from  the  destruction  of  standing  crops  and 
agricultural  implements. 

"  Still,  again,  others  of  your  officers  in  dif 
ferent  districts  have  recently  taken  the  lives 
of  prisoners  who  fell  into  their  power,  and 
justify  their  act  by  asserting  a  right  to  treat 
as  spies  the  military  officers  and  enlisted  men 
under  my  command  who  may  penetrate  for 
hostile  purposes  into  States  claimed  by  me  to 
be  engaged  in  the  warfare  now  waged  against 
the  United  States,  and  claimed  by  the  latter 
as  having  refused  to  engage  in  such  warfare. 

"  I  have  heretofore,  on  different  occasions, 
been  forced  to  make  complaint  of  these  out 
rages,  and  to  ask  you  that  you  should  either 
avow  or  disclaim  having  authorized  them ; 
and  have  failed  to  obtain  such  answer  as  the 
usages  of  civilized  warfare  require  to  be 
given  in  such  cases. 

"  These  usages  justify,  and  indeed  require, 
redress  by  retaliation,  as  the  proper  means  of 
repressing  such  cruelties  as  are  not  permitted 
in  warfare  between  Christian  peoples.  I  have, 
notwithstanding,  refrained  from  the  exercise 
of  such  retaliation,  because  of  its  obvious  ten- 


4&6  JEFFERSON  D 

dency  to  lead  to  a  war  of  indiscriminate  mas 
sacre  on  both  sides,  which  would  be  a  specta 
cle  so  shocking  to  humanity  and  so  disgraceful 
to  the  age  in  which  we  live  and  the  religion 
we  profess,  that  I  cannot  contemplate  it  with 
out  a  feeling  of  horror  that  I  am  disinclined  to 
doubt  you  would  share. 

"  With  the  view,  then,  of  making  one  last 
solemn  attempt  to  avert  such  calamities,  and 
to  attest  my  earnest  desire  to  prevent  them, 
if  it  be  possible,  I  have  selected  the  bearer 
of  this  letter,  the  Honorable  Alexander  H. 
Stephens,  as  a  military  commissioner  to  pro 
ceed  to  your  headquarters  under  flag  of  truce, 
there  to  confer  and  agree  on  the  subjects 
above  mentioned  ;  and  I  do  hereby  authorize 
the  said  Alexander  H.  Stephens  to  arrange 
and  settle  all  differences  and  disputes  which 
may  have  arisen  or  may  arise  in  the  execu 
tion  of  the  cartel  for  exchange  of  prisoners  of 
war,  heretofore  agreed  on  between  our  re 
spective  land  and  naval  forces  ;  also  to  agree 
to  any  just  modification  that  may  be  found  ne 
cessary  to  prevent  further  misunderstandings 
as  to  the  terms  of  said  cartel  ;  and  finally,  to 
enter  into  such  arrangement  or  understanding 
about  the  mode  of  carrying  on  hostilities  be 
tween  the  belligerents  as  shall  confine  the  se 
verities  of  the  war  within  such  limits  as  are 
rightfully  imposed,  not  only  by  modern  civili- 


STEPHENS*S    COMMISSION.  407 

zation,  but  by  our  common  Christianity.     I 
am,  very  respectfully,  your  obedient  servant, 

"  JEFFERSON  DAVIS, 

"  Commander -in- Chief  of  the  land  and 
naval  forces  of  the  Confederate  States. 
"  To  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN, 

"  Commander-in-  Chief  of  the   land  and 
naval  forces  of  the  United  States?' 

Mr.  Stephens  proceeded  as  far  as  Fortress 
Monroe  under  a  flag  of  truce ;  but  when  he 
reached  Newport  News,  the  admiral  of  the 
Federal  fleet  arrested  his  further  progress. 
The  object  of  his  mission,  with  a  request  for 
permission  to  go  to  Washington,  was  made 
known  to  that  officer,  who  by  telegraph  com 
municated  with  the  Government  at  Wash 
ington.  The  reply  of  that  Government 
was  : 

"  The  request  is  inadmissible.  The  custom 
ary  agents  and  channels  are  adequate  for  all 
needful  military  communications  and  confer 
ences  between  the  United  States  forces  and 
the  insurgents." 

"  This,"  subsequently  wrote  Mr.  Davis, 
"  was  all  the  notice  ever  taken  of  our  humane 
propositions.  We  were  stigmatized  as  insur 
gents,  and  the  door  was  shut  in  our  faces. 
Does  not  this  demonstrate  an  intent  to  subju 
gate  our  States  ? " 


4o§  JEFFERSON  DAVIS. 

Mr.  Stephens,  after  his  return,  wrote  the 
following : 

4 'RICHMOND,  July  8,  1863. 

"  His  Excellency,  JEFFERSON  DAVIS  : 

"  SIR  :  Under  the  authority  and  instructions 
of  your  letter  to  me,  on  the  2d  instant  I  pro 
ceeded  on  the  mission  therein  assigned  with 
out  delay.  The  steamer  Torpedo,  commanded 
by  Lieutenant  Hunter  Davidson,  of  the  navy, 
was  put  in  readiness  as  soon  as  possible,  by 
order  of  the  Secretary  of  the  Navy,  and  ten 
dered  for  the  service.  At  noon,  on  the  3d, 
she  started  down  James  River,  hoisting  and 
bearing  a  flag  of  truce  after  passing  City 
Point.  The  next  day  (the  4th),  at  about  one 
o'clock  P.M.,  when  within  a  few  miles  of 
Newport  News,  we  were  met  by  a  small  boat 
of  the  enemy,  carrying  two  guns,  which  also 
raised  a  white  flag  before  approaching  us. 

"  The  officer  in  command  informed  Lieu 
tenant  Davidson  that  he  had  orders  from  Ad 
miral  Lee,  on  board  the  United  States  flag 
ship  Minnesota,  lying  below  and  then  in  view, 
not  to  allow  any  boat  or  vessel  to  pass  the 
point  near  which  he  was  stationed,  without 
his  permission.  By  this  officer  I  sent  to  Ad 
miral  Lee  a  note  stating  my  objects  and 
wishes,  a  copy  of  which  is  hereunto  annexed, 
marked  A.  I  also  sent  to  the  Admiral,  to  be 
forwarded,  another  in  the  same  language,  ad- 


STEPHENS' 'S    COMMISSION.  40$ 

dressed  to  the  officer  in  command  of  the 
United  States  forces  at  Fortress  Monroe. 
The  gun -boat  proceeded  immediately  to  the 
Minnesota  with  these  despatches,  while  the 
Torpedo  remained  at  anchor.  Between  three 
and  four  o'clock  P.M.,  another  boat  came  up 
to  us,  bearing  the  Admiral's  answer,  which  is 
hereunto  annexed,  marked  B. 

"  We  remained  at  or  about  this  point  in  the 
river  until  the  6th  instant,  when,  having  heard 
nothing  further  from  the  Admiral,  at  twelve 
o'clock  M.,  on  that  day,  I  directed  Lieuten 
ant  Davidson  again  to  speak  the  gun-boat  on 
guard,  and  to  hand  to  the  officer  in  command 
another  note  to  the  Admiral.  This  was  done. 
A  copy  of  the  note  is  here  appended,  marked 
C.  At  half-past  two  o'clock  P.M.,  two  boats 
approached  us  from  below,  one  bearing  the 
answer  from  the  Admiral  to  my  note  to  him 
on  the  4th.  This  answer  is  annexed,  marked 
D. 

"  The  other  boat  bore  the  answer  of  Lieu 
tenant-Colonel  W.  H.  Ludlow  to  my  note  of 
the  4th,  addressed  to  the  officer  in  command 
at  Fortress  Monroe.  A  copy  of  this  is  an 
nexed,  marked  E.  Lieutenant-Colonel  Lud 
low  also  came  up  in  person  in  the  boat  that 
brought  his  answer  to  me,  and  conferred  with 
Colonel  Ould,  on  board  the  Torpedo,  upon 
some  matters  he  desired  to  see  him  about  in 


4IO  JEFFERSON  DAVIS. 

connection  with  the  exchange  of  prisoners. 
From  the  papers  appended,  embracing  the 
correspondence  referred  to,  it  will  be  seen 
that  the  mission  failed  from  the  refusal  of  the 
enemy  to  receive  or  entertain  it,  holding  the 
proposition  of  such  conference  'inadmissible.' 

"  The  influence  and  views  that  led  to  this 
determination  after  so  long  a  consideration  on 
the  subject,  must  be  left  to  conjecture.  The 
reason  assigned  for  the  refusal  by  the  United 
States  Secretary  of  War,  to  wit :  that  '  the 
customary  agents  and  channels  '  are  consider 
ed  adequate  for  all  needful  military  '  commu 
nications  and  conferences/  to  one  acquainted 
with  the  facts  seems  not  only  unsatisfactory, 
but  very  singular  and  unaccountable ;  for  it 
is  certainly  known  to  him  that  .these  very 
agents  to  whom  he  evidently  alludes,  hereto 
fore  agreed  upon  in  a  former  conference  in 
reference  to  the  exchange  of  prisoners  (one 
of  the  subjects  embraced  in  your  letter  to  me), 
are  now,  and  have  been  for  some  time,  dis 
tinctly  at  issue  on  several  important  points. 
The  existing  cartel,  owing  to  these  disagree 
ments,  is  virtually  suspended,  so  far  as  the 
exchange  of  officers  on  either  side  is  con 
cerned.  Notices  of  retaliation  have  been 
given  on  both  sides. 

"  The  effort,  therefore,  for  the  very  many 
and  cogent  reasons  set  forth  in  your  letter  of 


STMPHEN&S   COMMISSION.  411 

instructions  to  me,  to  see  if  these  differences 
could  not  be  removed,  and  if  a  clearer  under 
standing  between  the  parties  as  to  the  gen 
eral  conduct  of  the  war  could  not  be  resorted 
to  by  either  party,  was  no  less  in  accordance 
with  the  dictates  of  humanity,  than  in  strict 
conformity  with  the  uses  of  belligerents  in 
modern  times.  Deeply  impressed  as  I  was 
with  these  views  and  feelings,  in  undertaking 
the  mission  and  asking  the  conference,  I  can 
but  express  my  profound  regret  at  the  result 
of  the  effort  made  to  obtain  it,  and  I  can  but 
entertain  the  belief  that  if  the  conference 
sought  had  been  granted,  mutual  good  could 
have  been  effected  by  it ;  and  if  this  war,  so 
unnatural,  so  unjust,  so  unchristian,  and  so 
inconsistent  with  every  fundamental  principle 
of  American  constitutional  liberty,  'must 
needs  '  continue  to  be  waged  against  us,  that 
at  least  some  of  the  severer  horrors,  which 
now  so  eminently  threaten,  might  have  been 
avoided. 

"  Very  respectfully, 

"  ALEXANDER  H.  STEPHENS." 


CHAPTER   XLI, 

FALL   OF  VICKSBURG,    JULY  4,  1863. 

AFTER  Gettysburg  the  non-combatants  were 
fecund  in  expedients  which  would  have  com 
pelled  victory,  had  they  been  adopted.  But 
unfortunately  these  military  strategists  agreed 
on  but  one  point,  viz.,  that  the  President  and 
his  cabinet  were  ignorant  of  the  measures  ne 
cessary  to  compel  victory  ;  these  were  in  some 
inexplicable  way  very  derelict.  The  Exami 
ner,  as  the  exponent  of  the  critics,  foretold 
every  evil  for  the  Confederacy,  and  thus  dis 
couraged  the  people,  and  w'eakened  the 
power  of  the  President  to  serve  them. 

Subsequent  to  the  battle  of  Murfreesboro, 
in  January,  1863,  attention  was  concentrated 
upon  a  campaign  in  Mississippi  with  Vicks- 
burg  as  the  objective  point.  Of  course,  this 
section  of  country  was  very  dear  to  the  Presi 
dent,  he  knew  every  other  family  in  it,  and 
had  a  passionate  desire  to  save  them  from 
the  desolation  that  had  fallen  upon  our  only 
large  city,  New  Orleans. 

On  December  28,  1862,  General  Sherman 


FALL   OF    VICKSBURG.  413 

made  an  offensive  movement  and  was  re 
pulsed. 

In  January,  1863,  General  Grant  landed  at 
Young's  Point  on  the  Mississippi  River,  a  few 
miles  below,  and  opposite  to  Vicksburg,  and 
soon  after  with  his  large  army  marched  into 
the  interior  of  Mississippi. 

The  destruction  of  valuable  stores  at  Hol 
ly  Springs  by  General  Van  Dorn  frustrated 
Grant's  plan  of  operations,  and  he  retreated 
to  Memphis. 

Upon  General  Johnston's  recovery  from 
the  wound  received  at  Seven  Pines,  he  had 
been  assigned,  on  November  24,  1862,  to  the 
command  of  a  Geographical  Department  in 
cluding  the  States  of  Tennessee,  Mississip 
pi,  Alabama,  Georgia,  and  North  Carolina. 
Mrs.  Johnston  and  I  were  very  intimate 
friends,  and  the  day  before  his  departure  I 
went  to  see  them.  General  Johnston  seemed 
ill  and  dispirited.  In  answer  to  a  hope  ex 
pressed  by  me  that  he  would  have  a  brilliant 
campaign,  he  said,  "  I  might  if  I  had  Lee's 
chances  with  the  army  of  Northern  Virginia ;  " 
from  which  I  inferred  he  was  very  averse  to 
leaving  Virginia. 

When  the  events  occurred  that  have  been 
narrated,  General  Pemberton  had  felt  severely 
the  need  of  cavalry  for  observation  and  to  keep 
open  communications  with  our  troops  in  Mis- 


414  JEFFERSON  DAVIS. 

sissippi.  As  soon  as  General  Johnston  as 
sumed  command  in  person,  General  Pember- 
ton  renewed  his  strenuous  efforts  to  procure  it 
from  him,  hoping  to  check  the  invading  army. 

General  Johnston  arrived  at  Jackson  on 
May  13,  1863,  and  telegraphed  to  James  A. 
Seddon,  Secretary  of  War,  as  follows : 

"  I  arrived  this  evening,  finding  the  enemy 
in  force  between  this  place  and  General  Pern- 
berton,  cutting  off  communication.  I  am  too 
late." 

In  the  order  assigning  General  Johnston  to 
the  Geographical  Department  of  the  West, 
he  was  directed  to  repair  in  person  to  any 
part  of  his  command,  whenever  his  presence 
might  be  deemed  for  the  time  necessary  or 
desirable. 

On  May  9,  1863,  General  Johnston  was 
ordered  to  "  proceed  at  once  to  Mississippi 
and  take  chief  command  of  the  forces/'  and 
he  telegraphed  to  General  Pemberton  from 
Tullahoma  the  same  day,  "  Disposition  of 
troops,  as  far  as  understood,  judicious.  Can 
be  readily  concentrated  against  Grant's  army. 

When  he  reached  Jackson,  learning  that 
the  enemy  was  between  that  place  and  the 
position  occupied  by  General  Pemberton's 
forces,  about  thirty  miles  distant,  he  halted 
there  and  opened  correspondence  with  Pem 
berton,  from  which  a  confusion  with  conse- 


FALL    OF    VICKSBURG.  415 

quent  disaster  resulted,  which  might  have 
been  avoided  had  he,  with  or  without  rein 
forcements,  proceeded  to  Pemberton's  head 
quarters  in  the  field.  What  the  confusion  or 
want  of  co-intelligence  was,  will  best  appear 
from  citing  the  important  part  of  the  de 
spatches  which  passed  between  them. 

On  May  I3th,  General  Johnston,  then  at 
Jackson,  sent  the  following  despatch  to  Gen 
eral  Pemberton,  which  was  received  on  the 
I4th: 

"  I  have  lately  arrived,  and  learn  that  Ma 
jor-General  Sherman  is  between  us  with  four 
divisions  at  Clinton.  It  is  important  to  re 
establish  communications,  that  you  may  be 
reinforced,  if  practicable.  I  come  up  on  his 
rear  at  once.  To  beat  such  a  detachment 
would  be  of  immense  value.  The  troops 
here  could  co-operate ;  all  the  strength  you 
can  quickly  assemble  should  be  brought. 
Time  is  all-important.'* 

On  the  same  day,  the  I4th,  General  Pem 
berton,  then  at  Bovina,  replied  : 

"  I  have  the  honor  to  acknowledge  receipt 
of  your  communication.  I  moved  at  once 
with  whole  available  force,  about  sixteen 
thousand,  leaving  Vaughn's  brigade,  about 
fifteen  hundred,  at  Big  Black  Bridge  ;  Tilgh- 
man's  brigade,  fifteen  hundred,  now  at  Bald 
win's  Ferry,.  I  have  ordered  to  bring  up  the 


4i6  JEFFERSON  DAVIS. 

rear  of  my  column  ;  he  will  be,  however,  fif 
teen  or  twenty  miles  behind  it. 

"'Baldwin's  Ferry  will  be  left,  necessarily, 
unprotected.  To  hold  Vicksburg  are  Smith's 
and  Forney's  divisions,  extending  from  Sny- 
der's  Mills  to  Warrenton,  numbering  effec 
tives,  seven  thousand  eight  hundred  men. 
I  do  not  think  that  you  fully  compre 
hend  the  position  that  Vicksburg  will  be  left 
in,  but  I  comply  at  once  with  your  order." 

On  the  same  day  General  Pemberton, 
after  his  arrival  at  Edward's  Depot,  called  a 
council  of  war  of  all  the  general  officers 
present.  He  placed  General  Johnston's  de 
spatch  before  them,  and  stated  his  own  views 
against  the  propriety  of  an  advance,  but  ex 
pressed  the  opinion  that  the  only  possibility 
of  success  would  be  by  a  movement  upon  the 
enemy's  communications. 

A  majority  of  the  officers  present  expressed 
themselves  favorable  to  the  plan  indicated  by 
General  Johnston.  .  .  .  General  Pem 
berton  then  sent  the  following  despatch  to 
General  Johnston  : 

"  EDWARD'S  DEPOT,  May  14,  1863. 

"  I  shall  move  as  early  to-morrow  morning 
as  practicable,  with  a  column  of  seventeen 
thousand  men,  to  Dillon's,  situated  on  the 
main  road  leading  from  Raymond  to  Port 


FALL    OF    VICKSBURG.  417 

Gibson,  seven  and  a  half  miles  from  Edward's 
Depot.  The  object  is  to  cut  the  enemy's 
communications  and  to  force  him  to  attack  me, 
as  I  do  not  consider  my  force  sufficient  to  jus 
tify  an  attack  on  the  enemy  in  position,  or  to 
attempt  to  cut  my  way  to  Jackson.  At  this 
point  your  nearest  communication  would  be 
through  Raymond." 

The  movement  commenced  at  i  P.M.  on 
the  1 5th.  General  Pemberton  states  that  the 
force  at  Clinton  was  an  army  corps,  numeri 
cally  greater  than  his  whole  available  force  in 
the  field  ;  that  "  the  enemy  had  at  least  an 
equal  force  to  the  south,  on  my  right  flank, 
which  would  be  nearer  Vicksburg  than  my 
self  in  case  I  should  make  the  movement 
proposed.  I  had,  moreover,  positive  informa 
tion  that  he  was  daily  increasing  his  strength. 
I  also  learned,  on  reaching  Edward's  Depot, 
that  one  division  of  the  enemy  (A.  J.  Smith's) 
was  at  or  near  Dillon's." 

On  the  morning  of  the  i6th,  about  6.30 
o'clock,  Colonel  Wirt  Adams,  commanding 
the  cavalry,  reported  to  General  Pemberton 
that  his  pickets  were  skirmishing  with  the 
enemy  on  the  Raymond  road,  in  our  front. 
At  the  same  moment  a  courier  arrived  and 
delivered  the  following  despatch  from  General 

Johnston : 

Vou  II.— 27 


4i8  JEFFERSON  DAVIS. 

"  CANTON  ROAD,  TEN  MILES  FROM  JACKSON, 
"May  15,  1863,  8.30A.M. 

"  Our  being  compelled  to  leave  Jackson 
makes  your  plan  impracticable.  The  only 
mode  by  which  we  can  unite  is  by  your 
moving  directly  to  Clinton  and  informing 
me,  that  we  may  move  to  that  point  with 
about  six  thousand." 

Pemberton  reversed  his  column  to  return 
to  Edward's  Depot  and  take  the  Brownsville 
road,  so  as  to  proceed  toward  Clinton,  on  the 
north  side  of  the  railroad,  and  sent  a  reply  to 
General  Johnston  to  notify  him  of  the  retro 
grade  movement.  Just  as  the  reverse  move 
ment  commenced,  the  enemy  opened  fire  with 
artillery  and  attacked  Pemberton  at  Big 
Black,  defeated,  and  forced  him  to  retire  to 
Vicksburg. 

On  the  morning  of  the  i8th,  the  troops 
were,  from  right  to  left,  on  the  defence,  and 
102  pieces  of  artillery,  mostly  field  pieces, 
were  placed  in  position.  Grant's  army  ap 
peared  before  the  city  on  the  i8th. 

Pemberton  relied  upon  the  co-operation  of 
a  relieving  army  before  any  investment  could 
be  made,  and  had  endeavored  to  secure  sup 
plies  for  the  duration  of  an  ordinary  siege. 

On  May  25th,  General  Grant  telegraphed 
General  Halleck  at  Washington ;  "  I  can 


FALL    OF    VICKSBURG.  419 

manage  the  force  in  Vicksburg  and  an  attack 
ing  force  of  30,000.  My  effective  force  is 
50,000  ;  "  and  General  Johnston  telegraphed 
to  Richmond  that  the  troops  he  had  at  his  dis 
posal  against  Grant  amounted  to  24,000,  not 
including  Jackson's  cavalry  command. 

On  May  i8th,  General  Pemberton  received 
by  courier  a  communication  from  General 
Johnston  containing  these  words:  "  If  Hayne's 
Bluff  is  untenable,  Vicksburg  is  of  no  value 
and  cannot  be  held.  If  you  are  invested  in 
Vicksburg  you  must  ultimately  surrender. 
Under  these  circumstances,  instead  of  losing 
both  troops  and  place,  we  must  if  possible 
save  the  troops.  If  it  is  not  too  late,  evacuate 
Vicksburg  and  its  dependences,  and  march  to 
the  northeast." 

Relying  upon  his  Government  and  General 
Johnston  to  raise  the  siege,  General  Pember 
ton  called  a  council  of  war,  laid  Johnston's 
communication  before  them,  and  requested 
their  opinion.  It  was  unanimous  that  "  it 
was  impossible  to'withdraw  the  army  from  this 
position  with  such  morale  and  materiel  as  to 
be  of  further  service  to  the  Confederacy." 
He  then  announced  his  decision  to  hold 
Vicksburg  as  long  as  possible. 

On  May  iQth  two  assaults  were  made,  on 
the  left  and  centre.  Both  were  repulsed 
and  heavy  loss  inflicted  ;  the  enemy  then  con- 


420  JEFFERSON  DAVIS. 

fined    himself    to    gradual    approaches    and 
mining.      Our  loss  was  small. 

How  to  dispose  of  the  women  and  chil 
dren  during  the  siege  was  a  problem  which 
could  be  solved  in  only  one  way,  viz.,  they 
must  stay  at  home.  Their  fathers,  husbands, 
brothers,  or  sons  were  many  of  them  in  the 
army  of  Northern  Virginia,  or  in  the  West. 
The  money  left  with  their  families  was  all 
exhausted;,  all  industries  were  at  a  standstill. 
The  interior  of  Mississippi  had  been  desolated 
by  fire  and  sword,  and  the  women  and  chil 
dren  could  not  exist  there  unprotected  and 
without  food  ;  so  they  grappled  with  the  ills 
they  knew,  and  remained  at  home.  Caves 
were  dug  in  the  high  clay  hills,  and  there  the 
non-combatants  dwelt  in  darkness  while  the 
shells  were  flying.  By  the  light  of  lamps 
they  mended,  patched,  and  darned  for  the 
soldiers,  knitted  them  socks,  and  rendered 
every  other  service  that  brave  and  tender 
women  learn  to  perform  in  the  hour  of  dan 
ger.  I  saw  one  bright  young  bride,  whose 
arm  had  been  shattered  by  a  piece  of  shell 
and  afterward  amputated ;  and  a  man  who 
was  there  during  the  siege  said,  on  July  26th  : 
"  We  noticed  one  man  with  his  wife  in  his 
arms — she  having  fainted  with  fright  at  the 
explosion  of  a  shell  within  a  few  feet  of  her. 
A  shell  burst  in  the  midst  of  several  children 


FALL    OF    VIC KS BURG.  421 

who  were  making  their  way  out  of  danger, 
and  the  dirt  thrown  up  by  the  explosion 
knocked  three  of  them  down,  but  fortunately 
did  no  injury.  The  little  ones  picked  them 
selves  up  as  quick  as  possible,  and  wiping  the 
dust  from  their  eyes,  hastened  on." 

The  women  nursed  the  sick  and  wounded, 
ate  mule  and  horse  meat,  and  bread  made  of 
spoiled  flour,  with  parched  corn  boiled  for  cof 
fee  ;  but  they  listened  to  the  whistling  shells 
undaunted,  nothing  fearing  except  for  the 
lives  of  those  who  were  fighting  far  and  near. 

General  Grant  telegraphed  to  Washington, 
on  June  8th,  "  Vicksburg  is  closely  invested. 
I  have  a  spare  force  of  about  30,000  men  with 
which  to  repel  anything  from  the  rear ;  "  and 
on  the  nth,  General  Johnston  telegraphed  to 
Richmond :  "  I  have  not  at  my  disposal 
half  the  troops  necessary.  It  is  for  the  Gov 
ernment  to  determine  what  Department,  if 
any,  can  furnish  the  reinforcements  required. 
I  cannot  know  here  General  Bragg's  wants 
compared  with  mine.  The  Government  can 
make  such  comparisons." 

As  already  stated,  General  Johnston  had 
been  assigned  to  the  command  of  a  geograph 
ical  department  that  included  the  State  of 
Tennessee,  and  therefore  General  Bragg's 
command  was  subject  to  General  Johnston's 
orders  ;  but  General  Johnston  seemed  to  re- 


422  JEFFERSON  DAVIS. 

gard  it  differently,  and  telegraphed  the  Sec 
retary  of  War  on  June  I2th:  "I  have  not 
considered  myself  commanding  in  Tennessee 
since  assignment  here,  and  should  not  have 
felt  authorized  to  take  troops  from  that  De 
partment  after  having  been  informed  by  the 
Executive  that  no  more  could  be  spared.  To 
take  from  Bragg  a  force  which  would  make 
this  army  fit  to  oppose  Grant,  would  involve 
yielding  Tennessee.  It  is  for  the  Govern 
ment  to  decide  between  this  State  and  Ten 
nessee." 

On  the  1 5th  he  telegraphed,  "I  consider 
saving  Vicksburg  hopeless."  To  this  last 
despatch  the  Secretary  of  War  replied  on  the 
1 6th  :  "  Your  telegram  grieves  and  alarms  us. 
Vicksburg  must  not  be  lost,  at  least  without  a 
struggle.  The  interest  and  honor  of  the  Con 
federacy  forbid  it.  I  rely  on  you  still  to  avert 
the  loss.  If  better  resource  does  not  offer, 
you  must  hazard  attack.  It  may  be  made  in 
concert  with  the  garrison,  if  practicable,  but 
otherwise  without.  By  day  or  night,  as  you 
think  best."  And  again,  on  the  2ist:  "  Only 
my  convictions  of  almost  imperative  necessity 
for  action  induces  the  official  despatch  I  have 
just  sent  you.  On  every  ground  I  have  great 
deference  to  your  judgment  and  military  ge 
nius,  but  I  feel  it  right  to  share,  if  need  be  to 
take,  the  responsibility  and  leave  you  free  to 


FALL    OF    V1CKSBURG.  423 

follow  the  most  desperate  course  the  occasion 
may  demand.  Rely  upon  it,  the  eyes  and 
hopes  of  the  whole  Confederacy  are  upon 
you,  with  the  full  confidence  that  you  will  act, 
and  with  the  sentiment  that  it  were  better  to 
fail  nobly  daring,  than,  through  priidence 
even,  to  be  inactive.  I  look  to  attack  in  the 
last  resort,  but  rely  on  your  resources  of  gen 
eralship  to  suggest  less  desperate  modes  of 
relief.  .  * .  1  I  rely  on  you  for  all  possible 
to  save  Vicksburg."  On  June  2 7th,  General 
Grant  telegraphed  General  Halleck :  "  Joe 
Johnston  has  postponed  his  attack  until  he 
can  receive  10,000  reinforcements  now  on  their 
way  from  Bragg's  army.  They  are  expect 
ed  early  next  week.  I  feel  strong  enough 
against  this  increase,  and  do  not  despair  of 
having  Vicksburg  before  their  arrival." 

After  being  besieged  for  forty-seven  days 
and  nights,  the  brave  troops,  exposed  to 
burning  sun  and  drenching  nights,  confined 
to  the  narrow  limits  of  the  trench,  with  their 
limbs  cramped  and  swollen,  and  growing  weak 
and  attenuated,  felt  and  knew  the  end  was 
near.  They  had  repulsed  the  enemy's  re 
peated  assaults,  and  driven  him  discomfited 
from  the  trenches ;  they  had  taken  five  stand 
of  colors  as  trophies  of  their  prowess,  but 
now  the  time  had  come  when  man  could  do 
no  more.  They  were  physically  unable  to 


424  JEFFERSON  DAVIS. 

make  a  sortie,  and  all  hope  of  outside  relief 
from  Johnston  was  gone.  General  Pember- 
ton  therefore  resolved  to  seek  terms  of  capit 
ulation,  and  the  city  surrendered  to  General 
Grant  on  July  4th.* 

General  Grant  immediately  telegraphed  to 
Washington.  "  The  enemy  surrendered  this 
morning.  ,.  .» .  ,.  General  Sherman  will 
face  immediately  on  Johnston  and  drive  him 
from  the  State." 

On  July  1 7th,  General  Johnston  aban 
doned  Jackson  and  retreated  into  the  in 
terior.'^ 


*  On  May  9,  1864,  General  Pemberton  resigned  his  commission 
and  expressed  his  willingness  to  serve  in  the  ranks  ;  the  President 
conferred  on  him  a  lieutenant-colonelcy  of  artillery. 

f  "  General  Johnston  is  retreating  on  the  east  side  of  Pearl  River, 
and  I  can  only  learn  from  him  of  such  vague  purposes  as  were  un 
folded  when  he  held  his  army  before  Richmond." — Letter  of  Presi 
dent  Davis  to  General  Lee,  July  21,  1863. 


CHAPTER   XLII. 

PRESIDENT    DAVIS'S     LETTER    TO    GENERAL    JOHN 
STON    AFTER   THE  FALL   OF   VICKSBURG. 


"RICHMOND,  July  15,   1863. 

"  GENERAL    J.    E.    JOHNSTON,    Commanding, 

etc. 

"GENERAL:  Your  despatch  of  the  5th  in 
stant  stating  that  you  '  considered '  your  '  as 
signment  to  the  immediate  command  in  Mis 
sissippi  '  as  giving  you  '  a  new  position '  and 
as  '  limiting  your  authority/  being  a  repeti 
tion  of  a  statement  which  you  were  informed 
was  a  grave  error,  and  being  persisted  in  af 
ter  your  failure  to  point  out,  when  requested, 
the  letter  or  despatch  justifying  you  in  such  a 
conclusion,  rendered  it  necessary,  as  you  were 
informed  in  my  despatch  of  the  8th  instant, 
that  I  should  make  a  more  extended  reply 
than  could  be  given  in  a  telegram.  That 
there  may  be  no  possible  room  for  further 
mistake  in  this  matter,  I  am  compelled  to  re 
capitulate  the  substance  of  all  orders  and  in 
structions  given  to  you,  so  far  as  they  bear 
on  this  question. 

On  November  24th  last  you  were  assigned, 


426  JEFFERSON  DAVIS. 

by  Special  Order  No.  275,  to  a  defined  geo 
graphical  command.  The  description  in 
cluded  a  portion  of  Western  North  Carolina 
and  Northern  Georgia,  the  States  of  Tennes 
see,  Alabama,  and  -Mississippi,  and  that  por 
tion  of  the  State  of  Louisiana  east  of  the 
Mississippi  River.  The  order  concluded  in 
the  following  language  :  '  General  Johnston 
will,  for  the  purpose  of  correspondence  and  re 
ports,  establish  his  headquarters  at  Chatta 
nooga,  or  such  other  place  as  in  his  judgment 
will  best  secure  communication  with  the 
troops  within  the  limits  of  his  command,  and 
will  repair  in  person  to  any  part  of  said  com 
mand,  whenever  his  presence  may  for  the 
time  be  necessary,  or  desirable. 

"  This  command  by  its  terms  embraced  the 
armies  under  command  of  General  Bragg  in 
Tennessee,  of  General  Pemberton  at  Vicks- 
burg,  as  well  as  those  at  Port  Hudson,  Mo 
bile,  and  the  forces  in  East  Tennessee. 

"This  general  order  has  never  been 
changed  nor  modified,  so  as  to  affect  your 
command,  in  a  single  particular,  nor  has  your 
control  over  it  been  interfered  with.  I  have 
as  Commander-in-Chief  given  you  some  or 
ders  which  will  be  hereafter  noticed,  no^t  one 
of  them  however  indicating  in  any  manner 
that  the  general  control  confided  to  you  was 
restricted  or  impaired. 


LETTER    TO    GENERAL    JOHNSTON.        427 

"  You  exercised  this  command  by  visiting 
in  person  the  armies  at  Murfreesboro,  Vicks- 
burg,  Mobile,  and  elsewhere,  and  on  January 
22d  I  wrote  to  you,  directing  that  you  should 
repair  in  person  to  the  army  at  Tullahoma,  on 
account  of  a  reported  want  of  harmony  and 
confidence  between  General  Bragg  and  his 
officers  and  troops.  This  letter  closed  with 
the  following  passages :  '  As  that  army  is 
part  of  your  command,  no  order  will  be  neces 
sary  to  give  you  authority  there,  as,  whether 
present  or  absent,  you  have  a  right  to  direct 
its  operations,  and  to  do  whatever  belongs  to 
the  General  Commanding/ 

"  Language  cannot  be  plainer  than  this,  and 
although  the  different  armies  in  your  geo 
graphical  district  were  ordered  to  report  di 
rectly  to  Richmond  as  well  as  to  yourself,  this 
was  done  solely  to  avoid  the  evil  that  would 
result  from  reporting  through  you  when  your 
headquarters  might  be,  and  it  was  expected 
frequently  would  be,  so  located  as  to  cre 
ate  delays  injurious  to  the  public  interest. 

"  While  at  Tullahoma  you  did  not  hesitate 
to  order  troops  from  General  Pemberton's 
army,  and  learning  that  you  had  ordered  the 
division  of  cavalry  from  North  Mississippi  to 
Tennessee,  I  telegraphed  to  you  that  this 
order  left  Mississippi  exposed  to  cavalry  raids 
without  means  of  checking  them.  You  did  not 


428  JEFFERSON  DAVIS. 

change  your  orders*  and  although  I  thought 
them  injudicious,  I  refrained  from  exercising 
my  authority  in  deference  to  your  views. 

"  When  I  learned  that  prejudice  and  malig 
nity  had  so  undermined  the  confidence  of  the 
troops  at  Vicksburg  in  their  commander  as  to 
threaten  disaster,  I  deemed  the  circumstances 
such  as  to  present  the  case  foreseen  in  Spe 
cial  Order  No.  275,  that  you  should  '  repair  in 
person  to  any  part  of  said  command  whenever 
your  presence  might  be  for  the  time  necessary 
or  desirable/ 

"  You  were  therefore  ordered,  on  May  Qth, 
to  '  proceed  at  once  to  Mississippi  and  take 
chief  command  of  the  forces,  giving  to  those  in 
the  field,  as  far  as  practicable,  the  encourage 
ment  and  benefit  of  your  personal  direction.' 

"  Some  details  were  added  about  reinforce 
ments,  but  not  a  word  affecting  in  the  remot 
est  degree  your  authority  to  command  your 
geographical  district. 

"  On  June  4th  you  telegraphed  to  the 
Secretary  of  War,  in  response  to  his  inquiry, 
saying :  '  My  only  plan  is  to  relieve  Vicks 
burg  ;  my  force  is  far  too  small  for  the  pur 
pose.  Tell  me  if  you  can  increase  it,  and 
how  much/  To  which  he  answered  on  the 
5th :  '  I  regret  inability  to  promise  more 

*  The  italics  are  the  author's. 


LETTER    TO   GENERAL    JOHNSTON.        429 

troops,  as  we  have  drained  resources,  even 
to  the  danger  of  several  points.  You  know 
best  concerning  General  Bragg's  army,  but  I 
fear  to  withdraw  more.  We  are  too  far  out 
numbered  in  Virginia  to  spare  any/  etc. 

"  On  June  8th  the  Secretary  was  more  ex 
plicit,  if  possible.  He  said  :  '  Do  you  advise 
more  reinforcements  from"  General  Bragg  ? 
You,  as  Commandant  of  the  Department, 
have  power  so  to  order  if  you,  in  view  of  the 
whole  case,  so  determine.' 

"  On  June  loth  you  answered  that  it  was 
for  the  Government  to  determine  what  de 
partment  could  furnish  the  reinforcements, 
that  you  could  not  know  how  General  Bragg's 
wants  compared  with  yours,  and  that  the 
Government  could  make  the  comparison. 
Your  statements  that  the  Government  in 
Richmond  was  better  able  to  judge  of  the 
relative  necessities  of  the  armies  under  your 
command  than  you  were,  and  the  further 
statement  that  you  could  not  know  how  Gen 
eral  Bragg's  wants  compared  with  yours,  were 
considered  extraordinary ;  but  as  they  were 
accompanied  by  the  remark  that  the  Secre 
tary's  despatch  had  been  imperfectly  deci 
phered,  no  observation  was  made  on  them 
till  the  receipt  of  your  telegram  to  the  Secre 
tary  of  the  1 2th  instant,  stating,  '  I  have  not 
considered  myself  commanding  in  Tennessee 


43o  JEFFERSON  DA  VIS. 

since  assignment  here,  and  should  not  have 
felt  authorized  to  take  troops  from  that  De 
partment  after  having  been  informed  by  the 
Executive  that  no  more  could  be  spared.' 

"  My  surprise  at  these  two  statements  was 
extreme.  You  had  never  been  '  assigned  to 
the  Mississippi  command/  You  went  there 
under  the  circumstances  and  orders  already 
quoted,  and  no  justification  whatever  is  per 
ceived  for  your  abandonment  of  your  duties 
as  Commanding  General  of  the  geographical 
district  to  which  you  were  assigned. 

"  Orders  as  explicit  as  those  under  which 
you  were  sent  to  the  West,  and  under  which 
you  continued  to  act  up  to  May  gth,  when 
you  were  directed  to  repair  in  person  to 
Mississippi,  can  only  be  impaired  or  set  aside 
by  subsequent  orders,  equally  explicit ;  and 
your  announcement  that  you  had  ceased  to 
consider  yourself  charged  with  the  control  of 
affairs  in  Tennessee  because  ordered  to  re 
pair  in  person  to  Mississippi,  both  places  be 
ing  within  the  command  to  which  you  were 
assigned,  was  too  grave  to  be  overlooked  ; 
and  when  to  this  was  added  the  assertion  that 
you  should  not  have  felt  authorized  to  draw 
troops  from  that  Department  (Tennessee) 
'  after  being  informed  by  the  Executive  that 
no  more  could  be  spared,'  I  was  unable  to 
account  for  your  language,  being  entirely  con- 


LETTER    TO    GENERAL    JOHNSTON.       431 

fident  that  I  had  never  given  you  any  such 
information. 

"  I  shall  now  proceed  to  separate  your  two 
statements,  and  begin  with  that  which  relates 
to  your  '  not  considering  '  yourself  command 
ing  in  Tennessee,  since  assignment  '  here,' 
i.e.,  in  Mississippi. 

"  When  you  received  my  telegram  of  June 
1 5th,  informing  you  that  'the  order  to  go  to 
Mississippi  did  not  diminish  your  authority  in 
Tennessee,  both  being  in  the  country  placed 
under  your  command  in  original  assignment/ 
accompanied  by  an  inquiry  about  the  infor 
mation  said  to  have  been  derived  from  me, 
restricting  your  authority  to  transfer  troops, 
your  answer  on  June  i6th  was,  '  I  meant  to 
tell  the  Secretary  of  War,  that  I  considered 
the  order  directing  me  to  command  here  as 
limiting  my  authority  to  this  Department,  es 
pecially  when  that  order  was  accompanied  by 
War  Department  orders  transferring  troops 
from  Tennessee  to  Mississippi.' 

"  This  is  in  substance  a  repetition  of  the 
previous  statement  without  any  reason  being 
given  for  it.  The  fact  of  orders  being  sent  to 
you  to  transfer  some  of  the  troops  in  your 
Department  from  one  point  to  another  to 
which  you  were  proceeding  in  person,  could 
give  no  possible  ground  for  your  '  consider 
ing'  that  Special  Order,  No.  275,  was  re- 


432  JEFFERSON  DAVIS. 

scinded  or  modified.  Your  command  of  your 
geographical  district  did  not  make  you  inde 
pendent  of  my  orders  as  your  superior  officer, 
and  when  you  were  directed  by  me  to  take 
troops  with  you  to  Mississippi,  your  control 
over  the  district  to  which  you  were  assigned 
was  in  no  way  involved.  But  the  statement 
that  troops. were  transferred  from  Tennessee 
to  Mississippi  by  order  of  the  War  Depart 
ment,  when  you  were  directed  to  repair  to 
the  latter  State,  gives  but  half  the  fact,  for 
although  you  were  ordered  to  take  with  you 
three  thousand  good  troops,  you  were  told  to 
replace  them  by  a  greater  number,  then  on 
their  way  to  Mississippi,  and  whom  you  were 
requested  to  divert  to  Tennessee,  the  pur 
pose  being  to  hasten  reinforcements  to  Pem- 
berton  without  weakening  Bragg.  This  was 
in  deference  to  your  own  opinion,  that  Bragg 
could  not  be  safely  weakened,  nay,  that  he 
ought  even  to  be  reinforced  at  Pemberton's 
expense  ;  for  you  had  just  ordered  troops  from 
Pemberton's  command  to  reinforce  Bragg.  I 
differed  in  opinion  from  you,  and  thought 
Vicksburg  far  more  exposed  to  danger  than 
Bragg,  and  was  urging  forward  reinforce 
ments  to  that  point,  both  from  Carolina  and 
Virginia,  before  you  were  directed  to  assume 
command  in  person  in  Mississippi. 

"  I  find  nothing  then  either  in  your  despatch 


LETTER    TO    GENERAL    JOHNSTON.       433 

of  June  1 6th,  nor  in  any  subsequent  commu 
nication  from  you,  giving  a  justification  for 
your  saying,  that  you  '  had  not  considered 
yourself  commanding  in  Tennessee,  since  as 
signment  here'  (i.e.,  in  Mississippi).  Your 
despatch  of  the  5th  instant  is  again  a  sub 
stantial  repetition  of  the  same  statement  with 
out  a  word  of  reason  to  justify  it.  You  say, 
'  I  considered  my  assignment  to  the  immediate 
command  in  Mississippi  as  giving  me  a  new 
position,  and  limiting  my  authority  to  this 
Department.'  I  have  characterized  this  as  a 
grave  error,  and  in  view  of  all  the  facts  can 
not  otherwise  regard  it.  I  must  add  that  a 
review  of  your  correspondence  shows  a  con 
stant  desire  on  your  part,  beginning  early  in 
January,  that  I  should  change  the  order  plac 
ing  Tennessee  and  Mississippi  in  one  com 
mand  under  your  direction,  and  a  constant  in 
dication  on  my  part,  whenever  I  wrote  on  the 
subject,  that  in  my  judgment  the  public  ser 
vice  required  that  the  armies  should  be  sub 
ject  to  your  control. 

"  I  now  proceed  to  your  second  statement, 
in  your  telegram  of  June  I2th,  that  'you 
should  not  have  felt  authorized  to  take  troops 
from  that  Department  (Tennessee)  after  hav 
ing  been  informed  by  the  Executive  that  no 
more  could  be  spared.' 

"  To  my  inquiry  for  the  basis  of  this  state- 

VOL.    II.— 28 


434  JEFFERSON  DA  VIS. 

ment,  you  answered  on  the  i6th,  by  what 
was  in  substance  a  reiteration  of  it. 

"  I  again  requested,  on  the  I7th,  that  you 
should  refer  by  date  to  any  such  communica 
tion  as  that  alleged  by  you.  You  answered 
on  June  2Oth,  apologized  for  carelessness  in 
your  first  reply,  and  referred  me  to  a  passage 
from  my  telegram  to  you  of  May  2Oth,  and  to 
one  from  the  Secretary  of  War  of  June  5th, 
and  then  informed  me  that  you  considered 
'  Executive '  as  including  the  Secretary  of  War. 

"  Your  telegram  of  June  I2th  was  addressed 
to  the  Secretary  of  War  in  the  second  person ; 
it  begins  '  Your  despatch/  and  then  speaks 
of  the  Executive  in  the  third  person,  and  on 
reading  it,  it  was  not  supposed  that  the  word 
'Executive'  referred  to  anyone  but  myself; 
but  of  course,  in  a  matter  like  this,  your  own 
explanation  of  your  meaning  is  conclusive. 

"The  telegram  of  the  Secretary  of  War  of 
June  5th,  followed  by  that  of  June  8th,  con 
veyed  unmistakably  the  very  reverse  of  the 
meaning  you  attribute  to  them,  and  your  ref 
erence  to  them  as  supporting  your  position 
is  unintelligible.  I  revert  therefore  to  my 
telegram  of  May  28th.  That  telegram  was  in 
answer  to  one  from  you  in  which  you  stated 
that,  on  the  arrival  of  certain  reinforcements, 
then  on  the  way,  you  would  have  about 
23,000;  that  Pemberton  could  be  saved 


LETTER    TO    GENERAL    JOHNSTON.        435 

only  by  beating  Grant ;  and  you  added, 
'  unless  you  can  promise  more  troops  we 
must  try  with  that  number.  The  odds  against 
us  will  be  very  great.  Can  you  add  seven 
thousand  ? ' 

"  My  reply  was  '  The  reinforcements  sent 
to  you  exceed  by,  say  seven  thousand,  the 
estimate  of  your  despatch  of  2  7th  instant.  We 
have  withheld  nothing  which  it  was  practica 
ble  to  give  you.  We  cannot  hope  for  numer 
ical  quantity,  and  time  will  probably  increase 
the  disparity.' 

"  It  is  on  this  language  that  you  rely  to  sup 
port  a  statement  that  I  informed  you  no  more 
troops  could  be  spared  from  Tennessee,  and 
as  restricting  your  right  to  draw  troops  from 
that  Department.  It  bears  no  such  construc 
tion.  The  reinforcements  sent  to  you,  with 
an  exception  presently  to  be  noticed,  were 
from  points  outside  of  your  Department.  You 
had,  in  telegrams  of  May  ist,  2d,  and  7th,  and 
others,  made  repeated  applications  to  have 
troops  withdrawn  from  other  Departments  to 
your  aid ;  you  were  informed  that  we  would 
give  all  the  aid  we  possibly  could.  Of  your 
right  to  order  any  change  made  in  the  distri 
bution  of  troops  in  your  own  district,  no  doubt 
had  ever  been  suggested  by  yourself,  nor 
could  occur  to  your  superiors  here,  for  they 
had  given  you  the  authority. 


436  JEFFERSON  DA  VIS. 

"  The  reinforcements  which  went  with  you 
from  Tennessee  were  (as  already  explained 
and  as  was  communicated  to  you  at  the  time) 
a  mere  exchange  for  other  troops  sent  from 
Virginia. 

"  The  troops  subsequently  sent  to  you  from 
Bragg  were  forwarded  by  him  under  the 
following  despatch  from  me  of  May  22d: 
'  The  vital  issue  of  holding  the  Mississippi  at 
Vicksburg  is  dependent  on  the  success  of 
General  Johnston  in  an  attack  on  the  invest 
ing  force.  The  intelligence  from  there  is  dis 
couraging.  Can  you  aid  him  ?  If  so,  and  you 
are  without  orders  from  General  Johnston, 
act  on  your  judgment/ 

"  The  words  that  I  now  underscore  suffice 
to  show  how  thoroughly  your  right  of  com 
mand  of  the  troops  in  Tennessee  was  recog 
nized.  I  knew  from  your  own  orders  that  you 
thought  it  more  advisable  to  draw  troops  from 
Mississippi  to  reinforce  Bragg,  than  to  send 
troops  from  the  latter  to  Pemberton  ;  and  one 
of  the  reasons  which  induced  the  instruction 
to  you  to  proceed  to  Mississippi  was  the  con 
viction  that  your  views  on  the  point  would 
be  changed  on  arrival  in  Mississippi.  Still, 
although  convinced  myself  that  troops  might 
be  spared  from  Bragg's  army  without  very 
great  danger,  and  that  Vicksburg  was  on  the 
contrary  in  imminent  peril,  I  was  unwilling  to 


LETTER  TO  GENERAL  JOHNSTON.     437 

overrule  your  judgment  of  the  distribution  of 
your  troops  while  you  were  on  the  spot,  and, 
therefore,  simply  left  to  General  Bragg  the 
power  to  aid  you,  if  he  could,  and  if  you  had 
not  given  contrary  orders. 

"  The  cavalry  sent  to  you  from  Tennessee 
was  sent  on  a  similar  despatch  from  the  Sec 
retary  of  War  to  General  Bragg,  informing 
him  of  your  earnest  appeal  for  cavalry,  and 
asking  hint  if  he  could  spare  any.  Your  re 
quest  was  for  a  regiment  of  cavalry  to  be  sent 
to  you  from  Georgia.  My  despatch  of  May 
1 8th  pointed  out  to  you  the  delay  which  a 
compliance  would  involve,  and  suggested  that 
cavalry  could  be  drawn  from  another  part  of 
your  Department,  as  had  been  previously  in 
dicated. 

"  In  no  manner,  by  no  act,  by  no  language, 
either  of  myself  or  of  the  Secretary  of  War, 
has  your  authority  to  draw  troops  from  one 
portion  of  your  Department  to  another  been 
withdrawn,  restricted,  or  modified. 

"  Now  that  Vicksburg  has  disastrously  fal 
len,  this  subject  would  present  no  pressing  de 
mand  for  attention,  and  its  examination  would 
have  been  postponed  to  a  future  period,  had 
not  your  despatch  of  the  5th  instant,  with  its 
persistent  repetition  of  statements  which  I 
had  informed  you  were  erroneous  and  with 
out  adducing  a  single  fact  to  sustain  them,  in- 


438  JEFFERSON  DAVIS. 

duced  me  to  terminate  the  matter  at  once  by 
a  review  of  all  the  facts. 

"  The  original  mistakes  in  your  telegram  of 
June  1 2th,  would  gladly  have  been  overlooked 
as  accidental,  if  acknowledged  when  pointed 
out.  The  perseverance  with  which  they  have 
been  insisted  on,  has  not  permitted  me  to 
pass  them  by  as  a  mere  oversight,  or,  by  re 
fraining  from  an  answer,  to  seem  to  admit  the 
justice  of  some  of  the  statements. 

"  Respectfully,  etc., 

(Signed)  "  JEFFERSON  DAVIS." 

Telegrams  sent  by  General  Johnston  from  Jackson,  Miss.,  to 
Richmond,  Va. 

"May  28,  1863. 

"To  PRESIDENT  DAVIS:  It  is  reported  that  the  last  infantry 
coming  leave  Montgomery  to-night.  When  they  arrive  I  shall  have 
about  twenty-three  thousand. 

"  Pemberton  can  be  saved  only  by  beating  Grant.  Unless  you 
can  promise  more  troops  we  must  try  with  that  mimber. 

"The  odds  against  us  will  be  very  great.  Can  you  add  7,000? 
I  asked  for  another  Major-General,  Wilcox,  or  whoever  you  may 
prefer.  We  want  good  General  Officers  quickly.  I  have  to  organ 
ize  an  army  and  collect  ammunition,  provisions,  and  transportation." 

"June  10,  1863. 

"To  SECRETARY  OF  WAR  :  Your  despatch  of  June  8th  in  cipher 
received.  You  do  not  give  orders  in  regard  to  the  recently  ap 
pointed  General  Officers.  Please  do  it. 

"  I  have  not  at  my  (disposal  ?  *)  half  the  number  of  troops  neces 
sary.  It  is  for  the  Government  to  determine  what  Department,  if 
any,  can  furnish  the  reinforcements  required. 

*  Word  not  legible  in  cipher  despatch. 


LETTER    TO    GENERAL    JOHNSTON.        439 

"I  cannot  know  General  Bragg's  wants,  compared  with  mine. 
The  Government  can  make  such  comparisons." 

"June  12,  1863. 

"To  THE  SECRETARY  OF  WAR:  Your  despatch  of  8th  imper 
fectly  deciphered  and  partially  answered  on  the  loth.  I  have  not 
considered  myself  commanding  in  Tennessee  since  assignment  here, 
and  should  not  have  felt  authorized  to  take  troops  from  that  Depart 
ment,  after  having  been  informed  by  the  Executive  that  no  more 
could  be  spared.  To  take  from  Bragg  a  force  which  would  make 
this  army  fit  to  oppose  Grant  would  involve  yielding  Tennessee. 

"It  is  for  the  Government  to  decide  between  this  State  and  Ten- 


"June  1 6,  1863. 

"  To  THE  PRESIDENT  :  Your  despatch  of  I5th  is  received.  I 
considered  the  order  directing  me  to  command  here  as  limiting  my 
authority  to  this  Department.  Especially  when  that  order,  accom 
panied  by  War  Department  orders  transferring  troops^from  Tennes 
see  to  Mississippi,  and  whether  commanding  there  or  not,  that  your 
reply  to  my  application  for  more  troops,  that  none  could  be  spared, 
would  have  made  it  improper  for  me  to  order  more  from  Tennessee. 

"Permit  me  to  repeat  that  an  officer  having  a  task  like  mine,  far 
above  his  abilities,  cannot  in  addition  command  other  remote  De 
partments.  .  .  ." 

"June  20,  1863. 

"To  THE  PRESIDENT  :  I  much  regret  the  carelessness  of  my  re 
ply  of  the  i6th,  to  your  telegram  of  the  I5th. 

"  In  my  despatch  of  I2th  to  the  Secretary  of  War,  I  referred  to 
the  words,  'we  withheld  nothing  which  it  was  practicable  to  give.' 
In  your  telegram  of  May  28th,  and  the  telegram  of  the  Secretary  of 
War  to  me  of  June  5th,  except  the  last  sentence,  I  considered  '  Ex 
ecutive  '  as  including  the  Secretary  of  War." 

"CANDY  CREEK  CAMP,  July  5th, 
*'  via  JACKSON,  July  7,  1863. 

"  To  THE  PRESIDENT  :  Your  despatch  of  June  3Oth  is  received. 
I  considered  my  assignment  to  the  immediate  command  in  Missis 
sippi  as  giving  me  a  new  position  and  limiting  my  authority  to  this 
Department,  The  ordering  of  the  War  Department  transferring 


44d  JEFFERSON  DAVlS. 

three  separate  bodies  of  troops  from  General  Bragg's  army  to  this— - 
two  of  them  without  my  knowledge,  and  all  of  them  without  con 
sulting  me,  would  have  convinced  me,  had  I  doubted  these  orders 
of  the  War  Department  expressed  its  judgment  of  the  number  of 
troops  to  be  transferred  from  Tennessee. 

"  I  could  no  more  control  this  judgment  by  increasing  the  num 
bers  than  by  forbidding  the  transfer. 

"I  regret  very  much  that  an  impression  which  seemed  to  be 
natural  should  be  regarded  as  a  strange  error.  I  thank  your  Excel 
lency  for  your  approval  of  the  several  recommendations  you  men 
tion." 

i 


CHAPTER   XLIII. 

MILITARY   OPERATIONS   AT   CHARLESTON. 

THE  defence  of  Charleston  against  a  demon 
stration  by  land  and  sea  was  the  most  note 
worthy  event  of  the  summer  of  1863.  Foiled 
in  their  naval  attack  in  April,  the  next  effort 
was  to  occupy  Morris  Island  and  reduce  Fort 
Sumter.  Owing  to  the  lack  of  diligence  on  the 
part  of  General  Beauregard,  General  Gilmore 
secretly  placed  in  battery  47  pieces  of  artillery 
in  close  vicinity  to  the  Confederate  pickets. 

On  July  loth,  an  assaulting  column  2,500 
strong  crept  up  Folly  River  ;  the  iron-clad 
fleet  occupied  the  main  ship  channel  off  Mor 
ris  Island.  Axemen  felled  the  interposing 
trees,  and  the  concealed  battery  opened  fire 
on  the  Confederate  lines.  The  garrison  was 
on  the  alert. 

Just  at  break  of  day  on  the  nth,  the  Sev 
enth  Connecticut  regiment  charged  the  works, 
and  went  over  the  outer  line,  through  a  ter 
rible  fire  from  the  Confederate  rifles.  The 
fort  opened  on  them  with  three  howitzers, 
and  they  were  routed. 

Although  this  assault  on  Fort  Wagner  was 


442  JEFFERSON  DAVIS. 

\ 

repulsed,  the  neglect  to  make  reconnoissances 
in  time  to  prevent  the  battery  on  Folly  Island 
from  being  established,  compelled  the  evacu 
ation  of  Morris  Island,  except  Forts  Wagner 
and  Gregg. 

General  Beauregard  subsequently  used  all 
his  engineering  skill,  and  for  two  months  main 
tained  a  gallant  struggle  and  kept  the  enemy 
at  bay. 

On  July  1 8th,  the  Federal  fleet  poured  a 
terrific  fire  into  Fort  Wagner,  but  without  re 
ducing  it. 

As  the  curtain  of  smoke,  which  had  envel 
oped  Wagner  all  day,  slowly  lifted,  the  enemy 
were  seen  debouching  from  their  first  parallel, 
and  advancing  over  the  narrow  approach  be 
tween  it  and  the  fort.  The  garrison  of  Wag 
ner  sallied  forth  from  the  bomb-proof  and 
sand  hills  in  the  rear,  to  take  their  positions 
on  the  ramparts. 

Colonel  Robert  G.  Shaw,  with  his  col 
ored  troops,  led  the  attack.  "  They  went 
forward  at  a  '  double  quick  '  with  great  energy 
and  resolution,  but  on  approaching  the  ditch 
they  broke  ;  the  greater  part  of  them  followed 
their  Colonel,  mounted  the  parapet,  and  plant 
ed  their  flag  upon  the  rampart,  where  Shaw 
was  shot  dead  ;  while  the  rest  were  seized 
with  a  furious  panic,  and  acted  like  wild  beasts 
let  loose  from  a  menagerie. 


MIL1TAR  Y  OPERA  TIONS  A  T  CHARLESTON.  443 

"  They  ran  away  like  deer,  some  crawling 
on  their  hands  and  knees."*  By  this  time  the 
enemy  was  in  full  retreat,  and  the  conflict  was 
virtually  ended. 

The  demoralization  of  the  negro  troops  at 
the  supreme  moment  threw  the  ranks  of  the 
Federals  into  disorder.  The  converging  fire 
of  artillery  and  infantry  on  the  narrow  approach 
prevented  a  rally.  Few  could  move  within 
the  fatal  area  and  live. 

After  the  second  successful  defence  of 
Wagner,  the  remainder  of  the  month  of  July 
and  the  early  part  of  August  were  employed 
in  establishing  batteries  to  bombard  Sumter. 

"At  1.30  P.M.  on  September  6th,  an  at 
tempt  was  made  to  carry  Battery  Gregg.  In 
five  minutes  the  conflict  was  ended. 

"Fort  Wagner  had  now  been  held  under 
a  furious  cannonade  by  land  and  sea,  night 
and  day,  for  fifty-seven  days,  and  General 
Beauregard,  who  had  been  for  some  time  con 
sidering  the  case,  and  to  save  the  brave  men 
forming  the  garrison  of  Wagner  from  the 
desperate  chances  of  an  assault,  gave  orders 
for  its  evacuation."  f 

On  the  night  of  September  6th  the  island 
was  evacuated.  The  enemy  had  now  undis- 


*  See  Life  Afloat  and  Ashore,  Judge  Cowley,  page  93. 
f  Major  Gilchrist  on  the  Defence  of  Charleston, 


444  JEFFERSON  DA  VIS. 

puted  possession  of  the  entire  island,  includ 
ing  the  works  at  Cumming's  Point. 

But  over  Sumter  the  Confederate  flag 
floated,  and  the  demand  for  its  surrender  was 
still  rejected.* 

Another  effort  to  capture  the  fort  was  made 
by  the  Federals  on  the  evening  of  September 
8th,  and  they  were  again  repulsed.  After  this 
repulse  little  more  was  done  by  the  enemy 
for  the  rest  of  the  year.  The  forts  and  the 
city  were  constantly  bombarded,  but  the  peo 
ple  ceased  to  be  alarmed. 

The  activity  of  men  of  all  classes  was  un 
tiring.  Under  all  this  deadly  hail  they  worked 
with  indomitable  spirit.  The  gun-boat,  Ash 
ley  was  built,  finished,  and  launched  under 
fire  at  Charleston. 

A  small  earth-work  near  Sabine  Pass,  a 
place  of  great  strategical  importance,  a  few 
miles  above  the  entrance  to  the  Sabine  River, 
was  attacked  by  a  fleet  of  twenty-three  ves 
sels.  The  Confederate  force  was  42  men 
and  2  lieutenants,  and  it  drove  the  whole 
Federal  fleet  out  of  the  Pass,  captured  two 
gun-boats,  crippled  a  third,  took  18  guns, 
killed  50,  and  took  150  prisoners.! 

*  On  October  16,  1862,  John  Mitchell,  the  Irish  patriot,  arrived  at 
Richmond.  He  had  two  sons  in  the  Confederate  army  ;  one,  T.  K. 
Mitchell,  a  captain,  fell  at  his  post  when  in  command  of  Fort  Sumter. 

f  For  a  full  account,  see  The  Rise  and  Fall  of  the  Confederate 
Government,  by  Jefferson  Davis. 


CHAPTER  XLIV. 

LETTER  TO   HIS   HOLINESS   THE   POPE. 

MR.  DAVIS'S  early  education  had  always 
inclined  him  to  see  in  the  Roman  Catholics 
friends  who  could  not  be  alienated  from  the 
oppressed.  He  addressed  the  following  let 
ter  to  His  Holiness. 

"  RICHMOND,  September  23,  1863. 

11  VERY  VENERABLE  SOVEREIGN  PONTIFF: 

"  The  letters  which  you  have  written  to 
the  clergy  of  New  Orleans  and  New  York 
have  been  communicated  to  me,  and  I  have 
read  with  emotion  the  deep  grief  therein  ex 
pressed  for  the  ruin  and  devastation  caused 
by  the  war  which  is  now  being  waged  by  the 
United  States  against  the  States  and  people 
which  have  selected  me  as  their  President, 
and  your  orders  to  your  clergy  to  exhort  the 
people  to  peace  and  charity.  I  am  deeply 
sensible  of  the  Christian  charity  which  has 
impelled  you  to  this  reiterated  appeal  to  the 
clergy.  It  is  for  this  reason  that  I  feel  it  my 
duty  to  express  personally,  and  in  the  name 
of  the  Confederate  States,  our  gratitude  for 


446  JEFFERSON  DAVIS. 

such  sentiments  of  Christian  good  feeling  and 
love,  and  to  assure  Your  Holiness  that  the 
people,  threatened  even  on  their  own  hearths 
with  the  most  cruel  oppression  and  terrible 
carnage,  is  desirous  now,  as  it  has  always 
been,  to  see  the  end  of  this  impious  war ; 
that  we  have  ever  addressed  prayers  to 
Heaven  for  that  issue  which  Your  Holiness 
now  desires  ;  that  we  desire  none  of  our  ene 
my's  possessions,  but  that  we  fight  merely  to 
resist  the  devastation  of  our  country  and  the 
shedding  of  our  best  blood,  and  to  force  them 
to  let  us  live  in  peace  under  the  protection 
of  our  own  institutions,  and  under  our  laws, 
which  not  only  insure  to  every  one  the  en 
joyment  of  his  temporal  rights,  but  also  the 
free  exercise  of  his  religion.  I  pray  Your 
Holiness  to  accept,  on  the  part  of  myself  and 
the  people  of  the  Confederate  States,  our 
sincere  thanks  for  your  efforts  in  favor  of 
peace.  May  the  Lord  preserve  the  days  of 
Your  Holiness,  and  keep  you  under  His  di 
vine  protection. 

(Signed)          "  JEFFERSON  DAVIS/' 

The  Popes  Reply. 
"  ILLUSTRIOUS   AND    HONORABLE    PRESIDENT, 

salutation  : 

"  We  have  just  received  with  all  suitable 
welcome  the  persons  sent  by  you  to  place  in 


LETTER    TO  HIS  HOLINESS   THE  POPE.     447 

our  hands  your  letter,  dated  23d  of  September 
last.  Not  slight  was  the  pleasure  we  experi 
enced  when  we  learned,  from  those  persons 
and  the  letter,  with  what  feelings  of  joy  and 
gratitude  you  were  animated,  illustrious  and 
honorable  President,  as  soon  as  you  were  in 
formed  of  our  letters  to  our  venerable  brother 
John,  Archbishop  of  New  York,  and  John, 
Archbishop  of  New  Orleans,  dated  the  i8th 
of  October  of  last  year,  and  in  which  we  have 
with  all  our  strength  excited  and  exhorted 
those  venerable  brothers  that,  in  their  epis 
copal  piety  and  solicitude,  they  should  endea 
vor,  with  the  most  ardent  zeal,  and  in  our 
name,  to  bring  about  the  end  of  the  fatal 
civil' war  which  has  broken  out  in  those  coun 
tries,  in  order  that  the  American  people  may 
obtain  peace  and  concord,  and  dwell  charit 
ably  together.  It  is  particularly  agreeable  to 
us  to  see  that  you,  illustrious  and  honorable 
President,  and  your  people,  are  animated  with 
the  same  desires  of  peace  and  tranquillity 
which  we  have  in  our  letters  inculcated  upon 
our  venerable  brothers.  May  it  please  God 
at  the  same  time  to  make  the  other  peoples 
of  America  and  their  rulers,  reflecting  seri 
ously  how  terrible  is  civil  war,  and  what 
calamities  it  engenders,  listen  to  the  inspira 
tions  of  a  calmer  spirit,  and  adopt  resolutely 
the  part  of  peace.  As  for  us,  we  shall  not 


448  JEFFERSON  DAVIS. 

cease  to  offer  up  the  most  fervent  prayers  to 
God  Almighty,  that  He  may  pour  out  upon  all 
the  people  of  America  the  spirit  of  peace  and 
charity,  and  that  He  will  stop  the  great  evils 
which  afflict  them.  We,  at  the  same  time, 
beseech  the  God  of  pity  to  shed  abroad  upon 
you  the  light  of  His  grace,  and  attach  you  to 
us  by  a  perfect  friendship. 

"  Given  at  Rome,  at  St.  Peter's,  the  3d  of 
December,  1863,  of  our  Pontificate  18. 

(Signed)  -Pius  IX." 

During  Mr.  Davis's  imprisonment,  the  Holy 
Father  sent  a  likeness  of  himself,  and  wrote 
underneath  it,  with  his  own  hand,  attested  by 
the  seal  of  Cardinal  Antonelli,  "  Come  unto 
me,  all  ye  who  are  weary  and  heavy  laden, 
and  I  will  give  you  rest."  The  dignitary  and 
the  man  both  illustrated  the  meek  and  lowly 
Lord  of  all,  whose  vice-gerent  he  was. 


CHAPTER    XLV. 

CHICKAMAUGA  AND    MISSIONARY   RIDGE. 

ON  August  20th  the  bloody  battle  of 
Chickamauga  was  fought  and  our  troops  slept 
inside  the  intrenchments  of  the  enemy.  A 
month  later  Brigadier-General  William  Preston 
who  was  a  gallant  figure  in  the  fight,  was 
sent  to  Mexico,  with  authority  to  recognize 
and  treat  with  the  new  Emperor  Maximilian. 

The  defeat  of  Rosecrans's  army  at  Chicka 
mauga  was  complete,  but  the  failure  to 
promptly  follow  up  the  victory  rendered  it 
a  barren  one  to  the  Confederates. 

Bragg's  army  remained  on  the  field  of 
battle  twenty-four  hours,  burying  the  dead  and 
collecting  arms,  before  the  advance  was  begun, 
and  then,  moving  slowly,  found  Rosecrans 
behind  earthworks  in  and  around  Chatta 
nooga. 

Bragg  immediately  posted  his  army  along 
Missionary  Ridge  and  Lookout  Mountain, 
and  planned  to  drive  Rosecrans  out  of  Chat 
tanooga,  or  to  starve  him  into  surrender. 

In   this  situation,  General  Grant  was   as- 

VOL.  II.— 29 


450  JEFFERSON  DA  VIS. 

signed  to  the  command  in  Tennessee.  On 
October  23d  he  arrived  at  Chattanooga. 

By  his  own  report  he  found  Rosecrans 
practically  invested.  Army  supplies  had  to  be 
hauled  over  almost  impassable  roads  for  sixty 
to  seventy  miles.  The  artillery  horses  and 
mules  were  starving. 

Grant's  first  movement  was  to  supply  the 
army  by  a  shorter  route,  and  to  that  end  he 
captured  "  Lookout  Mountain." 

The  Confederate  force,  rendered  weaker 
by  detaching  Longstreet  to  Knoxville,  was 
overpowered  by  its  multitudinous  assailants, 
and  after  a  bloody  battle  retreated  during  the 
night  toward  Tunnel  Hill. 

General  Grant  pursued  but  a  short  distance 
beyond  Chattanooga. 

This  disaster  depressed  the  hopes  of  the 
Confederates  greatly ;  misfortunes  had  of  late 
crowded  so  thick  upon  them.  General  Bragg 
felt,  like  Sidney  Johnston,  that  success  should 
be  in  a  measure  the  test  of  a  military  man's 
merit,  and  he  asked  to  be  relieved.  The 
President  knew  that  General  Bragg  was  both 
an  able  general  and  a  devoted  patriot,  and 
after  granting  the  request  he  invited  him  to  be 
his  Chief  of  Staff,  or,  in  citizen's  phrase, 
military  counsel  at  Richmond. 

The  President  cast  his  eyes  over  the  roster 
of  gallant  and  educated  soldiers,  to  get  a  sue- 


CHICKAMAUGA  AND  MISSIONARY  RIDGE.     451 

cessor  for  General  Bragg,  and  found  in  Gen 
eral  Hardee  all  the  needful  qualities  for  the 
command  of  the  army  of  the  West.  His 
was  a  character,  both  moral  and  physical, 
which  compelled  the  respect  and  won  the 
affection  of  those  he  commanded,  and  both  the 
President  and  General  Bragg  were  much  dis 
appointed  by  General  Hardee's  declining  the 
position.  He  said  the  responsibility  was  so 
great  that  he  had  no  confidence  in  his  being 
able  to  meet  it  as  ably  as  some  other  man 
might.  His  declension  was  so  positive  that 
there  was  no  appeal  from  it,  and  General 
Joseph  E.  Johnston,  on  December  16,  1863, 
was  directed  to  personally  take  command. 


CHAPTER    XLVI. 

CORRESPONDENCE    BETWEEN    PRESIDENT   DAVIS 
AND   GOVERNOR  Z.    B.    VANCE. 

THE  dissatisfaction,  which  had  been  rather 
whispered  than  proclaimed,  now  began  to  be 
more  pronounced,  and  the  pernicious  effects 
were  noticed  in  the  incendiary  articles  pub 
lished  in  North  Carolina,  while  her  troops 
were  bleeding  on  every  field  and  performing 
prodigies  of  valor.  The  President  wrote  on 
this  subject  to  the  Governor  of  the  State  as 
follows  : 

President  Davis  to  Governor  Z.  B.   Vance. 
Confidential. 

"EXECUTIVE  OFFICE, 
"RICHMOND,  VA.,  July  24,  1863. 

"  His  EXCELLENCY  Z.  B.  VANCE, 

"  Governor  of  the  State  of  North  Carolina. 

"  DEAR  SIR  :  A  letter  has  just  been  re 
ceived  by  the  Secretary  of  State,  from  one  of 
the  most  distinguished  citizens  of  your  State, 
containing  the  following  passage : 

"  '  I  have  just  learned  that  the  Union  or 


CORRESPONDENCE  WITH  GOV.    VANCE.     453 

Reconstruction  party  propose  holding  meet 
ings  throughout  the  State.  Trouble  is  fast 
brewing  here,  and  I  fear  we  shall  soon  have 
open  resistance  to  the  Government  under  the 
leadership  of  that  reckless  politician,  Holden, 
Editor  of  the  Standard! 

"  This  is  not  the  first  intimation  I  have  re 
ceived  that  Holden  is  engaged  in  the  treason- 
enable  purpose  of  exciting  the  people  of  North 
Carolina  to  resistance  against  their  Govern 
ment,  and  co-operation  with  the  enemy  ;  but  I 
have  never  received  any  definite  statement  of 
facts  as  to  his  conduct  beyond  the  assertion 
that  his  newspaper,  which  I  do  not  read,  is 
filled  with  articles  recommending  resistance 
to  the  constituted  authorities. 

"  I  know  not  whether  his  hostility  and  that 
of  his  accomplices  is  directed  against  the  Con 
federate  Government  alone,  or  embraces  that 
of  his  State  ;  nor  am  I  aware  whether  he  has 
gone  so  far  as  to  render  him  liable  to  criminal 
prosecution. 

"  If,  however,  the  facts  stated  in  the  ex 
tract  of  the  letter  which  I  have  quoted  be  true 
(and  the  author  is  entitled  to  the  greatest 
credit),  the  case  is  quite  grave  enough  for  me 
to  consult  with  you  on  the  subject,  and  to  so 
licit  from  you  such  information  and  advice  as 
you  may  be  able  to  give  me,  for  the  purpose 
of  such  joint  or  separate  action  as  may  be 


454  JEFFERSON  DAVIS. 

proper  to  defeat  designs   fraught  with  great 
danger  to  our  common  country. 

"  I  write  you  confidentially,  because  there 
may  be  error  or  exaggeration  in  the  reports 
about  this  man,  and  I  would  be  unwilling  to 
injure  him  by  giving  publicity  to  the  charges, 
if  there  be  no  foundation  for  them. 

"  Very  respectfully  and  truly  yours, 

"  JEFFERSON  DAVIS." 

"STATE  OF  NORTH  CAROLINA,  EXECUTIVE  DEPARTMENT, 
"RALEIGH,  December  30,  1803. 

"  His  EXCELLENCY  PRESIDENT  DAVIS. 

"  MY  DEAR  SIR  :  After  a  careful  consider 
ation  of  all  the  sources  of  discontent  in  North 
Carolina,  I  have  concluded  that  it  will  be  im 
possible  to  remove  it,  except  by  making 
some  effort  at  negotiation  with  the  enemy. 
The  recent  action  of  the  Federal  House  of 
Representatives,  though  meaning  very  little, 
has  greatly  excited  the  public  hope  that  the 
Northern  mind  is  looking  toward  peace.  I 
am  promised,  by  all  men  who  advocate  the 
course,  that  if  fair  terms  are  rejected  it  will 
tend  greatly  to  strengthen  and  intensify  the 
war  feeling,  and  will  rally  all  classes  to  a  more 
cordial  support  of  the  Government.  And,  al 
though  our  position  is  well  known  as  de 
manding  only  to  be  let  alone,  yet  it  seems  to 
me  that  for  the  sake  of  humanity,  without 


CORRESPONDENCE  WITH  GOV.    VANCE.     455 

having  any  weak  or  improper  motives  at 
tributed  to  us,  we  might  with  propriety  con 
stantly  tender  negotiations.  In  doing  so  we 
could  keep  conspicuously  before  the  world  a 
disclaimer  of  our  responsibility  for  the  great 
slaughter  of  our  race,  and  convince  the  hum 
blest  of  our  citizens — who  sometimes  forget 
the  actual  situation — that  the  Government  is 
tender  of  their  lives  and  happiness,  and  would 
not  prolong  their  sufferings  unnecessarily  one 
moment.  Though  statesmen  might  regard 
this  as  useless,  the  people  will  not,  and  I 
think  our  cause  will  be  strengthened  thereby. 
I  have  not  suggested  the  method  of  these  ne 
gotiations  or  their  terms.  The  effort  to  ob 
tain  peace  is  the  principal  matter. 

"  Allow  me  to  beg  your  earnest  considera 
tion  of  these  suggestions. 

"  Very  respectfully  yours, 

"  Z.  B.  VANCE." 

"EXECUTIVE  OFFICE,  RICHMOND,  VA., 
"January  8,  1864. 

"  DEAR  SIR  :  I  have  received  your  letter  of 
the  30th  ult.,  containing  suggestions  of  the 
measures  to  be  adopted  for  the  purpose  of 
removing 'the  sources  of  discontent' in  North 
Carolina.  The  contents  of  the  letter  are  sub 
stantially  the  same  as  those  of  the  letter  ad 
dressed  by  you  to  Senator  Dorich,  extracts 


456  JEFFERSON  DAVIS. 

of  which  were  by  him  read  to  me.  I  remarked 
to  Mr.  Dorich  that  you  were  probably  not 
aware  of  the  obstacles  to  the  course  you  in 
dicated,  and  without  expressing  an  opinion  on 
the  merits  of  the  proposed  policy,  I  desired 
him,  in  answering  your  letter,  to  invite  sug 
gestions  as  to  the  method  of  opening  negocia- 
tions,  and  as  to  the  terms  which  you  thought 
should  be  offered  to  the  enemy.  I  felt  per 
suaded  you  would  appreciate  the  difficulties 
as  soon  as  your  attention  was  called  to  the 
necessity  of  considering  the  subject  in  its  de 
tail.  As  you  have  made  no  suggestions 
touching  the  manner  of  overcoming  the  ob 
stacles,  I  infer  that  you  were  not  apprised  by 
Mr.  Dorich  of  my  remarks  to  him. 

"  Apart  from  insuperable  objections  to  the 
line  of  policy  you  propose  (and  to  which  I 
will  presently  advert),  I  cannot  see  how  the 
more  material  obstacles  are  to  be  surmounted. 
We  have  made  three  distinct  efforts  to  com 
municate  with  the  authorities  at  Washington, 
and  have  been  invariably  unsuccessful.  Com 
missioners  were  sent  before  hostilities  were 
begun,  and  the  Washington  Government  re 
fused  to  receive  them  or  hear  what  they  had 
to  say.  A  second  time  I  sent  a  military  offi 
cer,  with  a  communication  addressed  by  my 
self  to  President  Lincoln.  The  letter  was  re 
ceived  .by  General  Scott,  who  did  not  permit 


CORRESPONDENCE  WITH  GOV.    VANCE.     457 

the  officer  to  see  Mr.  Lincoln,  but  promised 
that  an  answer  would  be  sent.  No  answer 
has  ever  been  received.  The  third  time,  a 
few  months  ago,  a  gentleman  was  sent,  whose 
position,  character,  and  reputation  were  such 
as  to  insure  his  reception,  if  the  enemy  were 
not  determined  to  receive  no  proposals  what 
ever  from  the  Government.  Vice-President 
Stephens  made  a  patriotic  tender  of  his  ser 
vices  in  the  hope  of  being  able  to  promote  the 
cause  of  humanity,  and  although  little  belief 
was  entertained  of  his  success,  I  cheerfully 
yielded  to  his  suggestion,  that  the  experiment 
should  be  tried.  The  enemy  refused  to  let 
him  pass  through  their  lines  to  hold  any  con 
ference  with  them.  He  was  stopped  before 
he  ever  reached  Fortress  Monroe  on  his  way 
to  Washington.  The  attempt  again  (in  the 
face  of  these  repeated  rejections  of  all  con 
ferences  with  us)  to  send  commissioners  or 
agents  to  propose  peace,  is  to  invite  insult 
and  contumely,  and  to  subject  ourselves  to 
indignity  without  the  slightest  chance  of  be 
ing  listened  to. 

"  No  true  citizen,  no  man  who  has  our 
cause  at  heart,  can  desire  this,  and  the  good 
people  of  North  Carolina  would  be  the  last 
to  approve  of  such  an  attempt,  if  aware  of  all 
the  facts.  So  far  from  removing  sources  of 
discontent,  such  a  course  would  receive,  as  it 


458  JEFFERSON  DAVIS. 

would  merit,  the  condemnation  of  those  true 
patriots  who  have  given  their  blood  and  their 
treasure  to  maintain  their  freedom,  equality, 
and  independence  which  descended  to  them 
from  the  immortal  heroes  of  King's  Mountain 
and  other  battle-fields  of  the  Revolution.  If, 
then,  these  proposals  cannot  be  made  through 
envoys,  because  the  enemy  will  not  receive 
them,  how  is  it  possible  to  communicate  our 
desire  for  peace  otherwise  than  by  the  public 
announcements  contained  in  almost  every 
message  I  ever  sent  to  Congress  ? 

"  I  cannot  recall  at  this  time  one  instance 
in  which  I  have  failed  to  announce  that  our 
only  desire  was  peace,  and  the  only  terms 
which  formed  a  sine  qua  non  were  precisely 
those  that  you  suggested,  namely  '  a  demand 
only  to  be  let  alone.'  But  suppose  it  were 
practicable  to  obtain  a  conference  through 
commissioners  with  the  Government  of  Presi 
dent  Lincoln,  is  it  at  this  moment  that  we  are 
to  consider  it  desirable,  or  even  at  all  admis 
sible  ?  Have  we  not  just  been  apprised  by 
that  despot  that  we  can  only  expect  his  grac 
ious  pardon  by  emancipating  all  our  slaves, 
swearing  allegiance  and  obedience  to  him 
and  his  proclamation,  and  becoming  in  point 
of  fact  the  slaves  of  our  own  negroes  ?  Can 
there  be  in  North  Carolina  one  citizen  so  fal 
len  beneath  the  dignity  of  his  ancestors  as  to 


CORRESPONDENCE  WITH  GOV.    VANCE.    459 

accept,  or  to  enter  into  conference  on  the 
basis  of  these  terms  ?  That  there  are  a  few 
traitors  in  the  State  that  would  be  willing  to 
betray  their  fellow-citizens  to  such  a  degraded 
condition,  in  the  hope  of  being  rewarded  for 
treachery  by  an  escape  from  the  common 
doom,  may  be  true.  But  I  do  not  believe  that 
the  vilest  wretch  would  accept  such  terms  for 
himself.  I  cannot  conceive  how  the  people 
of  your  State,  of  which  none  has  sent  nobler 
or  more  gallant  soldiers  to  the  field  of  battle 
(one  of  whom  it  is  your  honor  to  be),  can 
have  been  deceived  by  anything  to  which 
you  refer  in  '  the  recent  action  in  the  Feder 
al  House  of  Representatives.'  I  have  seen 
no  action  of  that  House  that  does  not  indi 
cate  a  very  decided  majority,  the  purpose  .of 
the  majority  to  refuse  all  terms  of  the  South, 
except  absolute,  unconditional  subjugation  or 
extermination.  But  if  it  were  otherwise,  how 
are  we  to  treat  with  the  House  of  Represen 
tatives  ? 

"  It  is  with  Lincoln  alone  that  we  would 
confer,  and  his  own  partisans  at  the  North 
avow  unequivocally  that  his  purpose,  in  his 
message  and  proclamation,  was  to  shut  out 
all  hope  that  he  could  ever  treat  with  us  on 
any  terms.  If  we  break  up  our  Government, 
dissolve  the  Confederacy,  disband  our  armies, 
emancipate  our  slaves,  take  an  oath  of  allegi- 


460  JEFFERSON  DAVIS. 

ance  binding  ourselves  to  obedience  to  him 
and  disloyalty  to  our  own  States,  he  pro 
poses  to  pardon  us,  and  not  to  plunder  us  of 
anything  more  than  the  property  already 
stolen  from  us,  and  such  slaves  as  still  re 
main.  In  order  to  render  his  proposals  so 
insulting  as  to  secure  their  objection,  he  joins 
to  them  a  promise  to  support  with  his  army 
one- tenth  of  the  people  of  any  State  who  will 
attempt  to  set  up  a  Government  over  the 
other  nine-tenths,  thus  seeking  to  sow  dis 
cord  and  suspicion  among  the  people  of  the 
several  States,  and  to  excite  them  to  civil 
war  in  furtherance  of  his  ends.  I  know  well 
it  would  be  impossible  to  get  your  people,  if 
they  possessed  full  knowledge  of  these  facts, 
to  consent  that  proposals  should  now  be 
made  by  us  to  those  who  control  the  Govern 
ment  at  Washington.  Your  own  well-known 
devotion  to  the  great  cause  of  liberty  and 
independence,  to  which  we  have  all  com 
mitted  whatever  we  have  of  earthly  posses 
sions,  would  induce  you  to  take  the  lead  in  re 
pelling  the  bare  thought  of  submission  to  the 
enemy.  Yet  peace  on  other  terms  is  impos 
sible.  To  obtain  the  sole  terms  to  which  you 
or  I  could  listen,  this  struggle  must  continue 
until  the  enemy  is  beaten  out  of  his  vain  con 
fidence  in  our  subjugation.  Then,  and  not 
till  then,  will  it  be  possible  to  treat  of  peace. 


CORRESPONDENCE  WITH  GOV.    VANCE.     461 

Till  then,  all  tender  of  terms  to  the  enemy 
will  be  received  as  proof  that  we  are  ready 
for  submission,  and  will  encourage  him  in  the 
atrocious  warfare  which  he  is  now  waging1. 

"  I  have  the  honor  to  be,  very  respectfully, 
yours, 

"  JEFFERSON    DAVIS. 
"  His  EXCELLENCY  Z.  B.  VANCE, 

"  Governor  of  North  Carolina." 


CHAPTER    XLVII. 

THE    MARYLAND    LINE   AND    THE    KILPATRICK  AND 
D  AH  LORE  N   RAID. 

IN  February,  1864,  an  expedition  was  or 
ganized  in  the  Federal  Army,  of  a  force  of 
three  thousand  picked  cavalry,  to  make  a  dash 
on  Richmond,  release  the  prisoners,  burn  the 
city,  and  escape  by  way  of  the  Peninsula  to 
Old  Point  Comfort.  On  February  29th,  it 
started  one  column  of  four  hundred  men  under 
Colonel  Ulric  Dahlgren,  to  cross  the  James 
River  in  Goochland  County,  above  Richmond, 
and  the  other,  under  Brigadier-General  Jud- 
son  Kilpatrick,  to  make  a  direct  attack  on  the 
city,  while  Dahlgren  attacked  from  the  south 
side. 

Crossing  at  Ely's  Ford,  after  surprising  and 
capturing  the  picket  there,  they  passed  in 
rear  of  General  Lee's  army  (capturing  "  en 
route  "  a  whole  court  martial  of  Confederate 
officers,  but  passing  by  a  camp  of  sixty-eight 
pieces  of  artillery  that  was  unprotected,  and 
would  have  fallen  an  easy  prey),  until,  under 
the  guidance  of  a  negro  that  had  been  sent 
by  Secretary  Stanton,  they  reached  the  James 


THE  MARYLAND  LINE.  463 

River  at  Dover  Mills,  where  a  ford  was  sup 
posed  to  be.  Finding  none,  they  accused 
the  negro  guide  of  treachery,  and  barbarous 
ly  hung  him  to  a  tree  with  a  leather  strap. 

In  the  winter  of  1863-64,  the  Maryland 
line,  consisting  of  the  Second  Infantry,  First 
Cavalry,  First,  Second,  and  Third  Maryland 
Artillery,  were  stationed  at  Hanover  Junction 
to  guard  Lee's  flank  toward  the  Peninsula  and 
the  railroad  bridges  over  the  North  and  South 
Anna,  on  the  preservation  of  which  depended 
Lee's  communications  with  Richmond. 

This  movement  around  Lee's  flank  was  at 
once  discovered,  and  Colonel  Johnson  was 
directed  by  General  Lee  to  look  out  for  it. 

The  Maryland  line  cavalry  was  extended 
in  a  picket  line  along  the  Pamunkey  to  New 
Kent  Court  House,  leaving  only  seventy-five 
men  in  camp.  With  these,  during  the  night, 
by  his  scouts,  Johnson  located  Kilpatrick's 
column,  and  then  started  with  sixty  men  and 
two  pieces  of  artillery  to  close  up  on  Kilpat- 
rick. 

Just  before  daylight  of  March  ist,  the 
Marylanders  struck  one  of  Kilpatrick's  flank 
ing  parties  and  dr<3ve  them  in  on  the  main 
body.  They  followed  the  enemy  through 
Ashland  down  to  the  outer  defences  of  Rich 
mond  ;  there  Kilpatrick  had  dismounted  his 
twenty-five  hundred  men  and.  was  making  a 


464  JEFFERSON  DAVIS. 

regular  attack  on  the  works.  General  Wade 
Hampton  heard  that  the  Federal  cavalry  was 
approaching  the  city,  and  immediately  moved 
out  to  attack  him. 

The  Marylanders  drew  up  on  his  rear 
picket  just  as,  by  a  happy  chance,  an  officer 
and  five  men  bearing  a  despatch  from  Dahl- 
gren  galloped  into  their  arms.  The  de 
spatch  informed  Kilpatrick  that  Dahlgren 
would  attack  on  the  River  Road  at  sunset, 
that  Kilpatrick  must  attack  at  the  same  time, 
and  together  they  would  ride  into  Richmond. 
Colonel  Johnson  at  once  drove  in  Kilpatrick's 
picket,  who,  finding  himself  attacked  in  rear 
at  once  retreated  toward  the  White  House. 
The  Marylanders  followed  him,  never  losing 
sight  of  his  rear-guard,  and  driving  it  in  on 
him  whenever  the  ground  allowed,  until  he 
got  to  Tunstall's,  under  the  protection  of  in 
fantry  sent  from  Williamsburg  or  Yorktown 
for  his  rescue.  The  pursuers  captured  one 
hundred  and  forty  prisoners  and  got  off  with 
an  insignificant  loss.* 

Dahlgren,  hearing  the  firing,  concluded  for 
reasons  unknown  to  him,  that  Kilpatrick  had 
attacked  four  hours  before*  the  appointed  time, 
and  kept  under  cover  until  dark,  when  he 
made  an  attack  upon  the  north  side  of  the 

*  Lieutenant  R.  Bartley,  Signal  Officer,  U.  S.  A.,  accompanying 
Dahlgren, 


THE  MARYLAND  LINE.  465 

city.  Here,  March  ist,  he  encountered  the 
company  of  Richmond  boys  (under  eighteen 
years  of  age)  at  the  outer  intrenchments,  and 
their  fire  becoming  "  too  hot,  he  sounded  the 
retreat,  leaving  forty  men  on  the  field." 

Continuing  his  retreat  down  the  Peninsula, 
he  was  met  by  a  few  men  of  the  Fifth  and  Ninth 
Virginia  cavalry,  and  some  home  guards,  all 
under  command  of  Lieutenant  James  Pollard, 
Company  H,  Ninth  Virginia  cavalry,  who,  plac 
ing  his  men  in  ambush,  waited  until  the  Fed 
erals  were  close  upon  them,  when  a  volley  was 
fired,  and  Colonel  Dahlgren,  who  had  ridden 
forward  and  tried  to  discharge  his  pistol,  fell 
dead,  and  his  command  were  taken  prisoners. 

General  Wade  Hampton  in  his  report  said  : 
"  We  captured  upward  of  one  hundred  pris 
oners,  representing  five  regiments,  many 

horses,  arms,  etc and  forced  this 

body  of  the  enemy  to  take  a  route  which  they 
had  not  proposed  to  follow,  while  the  other 
force,  under  Dahlgren,  was  prevented  from 
forming  a  junction  with  Kilpatrick  by  the  in 
terposing  of  my  command  between  the  two. 

"  This  brought  about  the  precipitate  re 
treat  of  Dahlgren,  and  his  ultimate  death,  with 
the  destruction  of  his  command." 

He  added  :  "  I  cannot  close  my  report  with 
out  expressing  my  appreciation  of  Colonel 
Bradley  T.  Johnson  and  his  gallant  command. 

VOL.  II.— 30 


466  JEFFERSON  DAVIS. 

With  a  mere  handful  of  men,  he  met  the  en 
emy  at  Beaver  Dam,  and  never  lost  sight  of 
him  until  he  had  passed  Tunstall's  Station, 
hanging  on  his  rear,  striking  him  constantly, 
and  displaying  throughout  the  very  highest 
qualities  of  a  soldier.  He  is  admirably  fitted 
for  the  cavalry  service,  and  I  trust  it  will  not 
be  deemed  an  interference  on  my  part  to  urge, 
as  emphatically  as  I  can,  his  promotion."  * 

General  G.  W.  C.  Lee  said:  "A  short  dis 
tance  beyond  the  fortifications  I  met  the  boy 
company,  and  some,  or  all,  of  the  other  com 
panies  of  the  Department  battalion  coming  in ; 
and  was  told,  in  answer  to  my  inquiries,  that 
the  boy  company  had  arrived  first  at  the  in 
termediate  line  of  fortifications,  and,  not  find 
ing  any  troops  there,  had  concluded  that  there 
was  an  outer  line." 


*  General  Hampton  presented  Colonel  Johnson  with  a  sabre  in 
compliment  for  his  having  thus  saved  Richmond  from  capture,  and 
General  Elzey,  who  commanded  the  Department  of  Richmond,  is 
sued  an  order  of  which  the  following  is  an  extract  : 

"HEADQUARTERS,  DEPARTMENT  OF  RICHMOND, 
"  March  8,  1864. 

"General  Orders,  No.  10. 

"  .  .  To  Colonel  Eradley  T.  Johnson  and  the  officers  and 

soldiers  under  his  command,  the  thanks  of  the  Major-General  are 
especially  due  for  the  prompt  and  vigorous  manner  in  which  they 
pursued  the  enemy  from  Beaver  Dam  to  Richmond,  and  thence  to 
Pamunkey,  and  down  the  Peninsula,  making  repeated  charges,  cap 
turing  many  prisoners  and  horses,  and  thwarting  any  attempt  of  the 
enemy  to  charge  them." 


THE  MARYLAND  LINE.  467 

The  "  Department  battalion "  was  com 
posed  of  the  clerks  from  all  the  departments 
of  the  Government,  not  from  the  Treasury 
Department  alone — and  of  a  company  of  Rich 
mond  boys  under  eighteen  years  of  age,  and  it 
was  this  latter  company  that  went  by  mistake 
to  Green's  farm,  which  was  not  far  beyond 
the  line  of  fortifications  on  the  northern  plank 
road  to  which  the  "  Department  battalion," 
and  another  (Armory  Battalion  ?)  were  or 
dered  ;  and  it  was  this  company  of  boys  which 
Jirst  became  engaged  with  Dahlgren  s  column, 
and  which  had  the  most  to  do  with  checking 
it,  and  perhaps  driving  it  off. 

The  following  special  orders  were  discov 
ered  on  the  body  of  Colonel  Dahlgren  : 

"  Guides,  pioneers  (with  oakum,  turpentine, 
and  torpedoes),  Signal  Officer,  Quartermas 
ter,  Commissary  ;  Scouts  and  pickets-men  in 
rebel  uniform.  These  will  remain  on  the 
north  bank  and  move  down  with  the  force  on 
the  south  bank,  not  getting  ahead  of  them  ; 
and  if  the  communication  can  be  kept  up  with 
out  giving  an  alarm,  it  must  be  done  ;  but  ev 
erything  depends  upon  a  surprise,  and  no  one 
must  be  allowed  to  pass  ahead  of  the  column. 
Information  must  be  gathered  in  regard  to  the 
crossings  of  the  river,  so  that,  should  we  be 
repulsed  on  the  south  side,  we  shall  know 
where  to  recross  at  the  nearest  point.  All 


468  JEFFERSON  DAVIS. 

mills  must  be  burned,  and  the  canal  destroyed  / 
and  also  everything  which  can  be  used  by  the 
rebels  must  be  destroyed,  including  the  boats 
on  the  river.  Should  a  ferry-boat  be  seized, 
and  can  be  worked,  have  it  moved  down. 
Keep  the  force  on  the  south  side  posted  of 
any  important  movement  of  the  enemy,  and 
in  case  of  danger  some  of  the  scouts  must 
swim  the  river  and  bring  us  information.  As 
we  approach  the  city  the  party  must  take  great 
care  that  they  do  not  get  ahead  of  the  other 
party  on  the  south  side,  and  must  conceal 
themselves  and  watch  our  movements.  We 
will  try  and  secure  the  bridge  to  the  city  (one 
mile  below  Belle  Isle)  and  release  the  prison 
ers  at  the  same  time.  If  we  do  not  succeed, 
they  must  then  dash  down,  and  we  will  try 
and  carry  the  bridge  from  each  side.  When 
necessary,  the  men  must  be  filed  through  the 
woods  and  along  the  river  bank.  The  bridges 
once  secured  and  the  prisoners  loose  and  over 
the  river,  the  bridges  will  be  secured  and  the 
city  destroyed.  The  men  must  keep  together 
and  well  in  hand,  and  once  in  the  city,  it  must 
be  destroyed,  and  Jeff  Davis  and  Cabinet 
killed.  Prisoners  will  go  along  with  combus 
tible  material.  The  officer  must  use  his  dis 
cretion  about  the  time  of  assisting  us.  Horses 
and  cattle  which  we  do  not  need  immediately 
must  be  shot  rather  than  left.  Everything  on 


THE  MARYLAND  LINE.  469 

the  canal  and  elsewhere  of  service  to  the  reb 
els  must  be  destroyed.  As  General  Custer 
may  follow  me,  be  careful  not  to  give  a  false 
alarm.  The  signal  officer  must  be  prepared 
to  communicate  at  night  by  rockets,  and  in 
other  things  pertaining  to  his  department. 
The  quartermasters  and  commissaries  must 
be  on  the  lookout  for  their  departments,  and 
see  that  there  are  no  delays  on  their  account. 
The  engineer  officer  will  follow  to  survey  the 
road  as  we  pass  over  it,  etc.  The  pioneers 
must  be  prepared  to  construct  a  bridge  or 
destroy  one.  They  must  have  plenty  of 
oakum  and  turpentine  for  burning,  which  will 
be  rolled  in  soaked  balls,  and  given  to  the 
men  to  burn  when  we  get  into  the  city.  Tor 
pedoes  will  only  be  used  by  the  pioneers  for 
destroying  the  main  bridges,  etc.  They  must 
be  prepared  to  destroy  railroads.  Men  will 
branch  off  to  the  right  with  a  few  pioneers, 
and  destroy  the  bridges  and  railroads  south 
of  Richmond,  and  then  join  us  at  the  city. 
They  must  be  well  prepared  with  torpedoes, 
etc.  The  line  of  Falling  Creek  is  probably 
the  best  to  work  along,  or,  as  they  approach 
the  city,  Goode's  Creek,  so  that  no  re 
inforcements  can  come  upon  any  cars.  No 
one  must  be  allowed  to  pass  ahead,  for  fear 
of  communicating  news.  Rejoin  the  com 
mand  in  all  haste,  and,  if  cut  off,  cross  the 


476  JEFFERSON  DAVIS. 

river  above  Richmond  and  join  us.  Men 
will  stop  at  Bellona  Arsenal  and  totally  de 
stroy  it,  and  anything  else  but  hospitals ; 
then  follow  on  and  rejoin  the  command  at 
Richmond  in  all  haste,  and  if  cut  off,  cross 
the  river  and  join  us.  As  General  Custer 
may  follow  me,  be  careful  and  not  give  a 
false  alarm." 

General  Fitzhugh  Lee,  in  a  letter  to  the 
Historical  Magazine  of  New  York,  and  pub 
lished  in  the  Magazine  in  1870,  says  : 

"  Personally,  as  a  man  educated  to  be  a 
soldier,  I  deplore  Colonel  Ulric  Dahlgren's 
sad  fate.  He  was  a  young  man  full  of  hope, 
of  undoubted  pluck,  and  inspired  with  hatred 
of  '  rebels.' 

"  Fired  by  ambition,  and  longing  to  be  at 
the  head  of  '  the  braves  who  swept  through 
the  city  of  Richmond,'  his  courage  and  en 
thusiasm  overflowed,  and  his  naturally  gen 
erous  feelings  were  drowned.  His  memoran 
da  and  address  to  his  troops  were  probably 
based  upon  the  general  instructions  to  the 
whole  command. 

"  The  conception  of  the  expedition,  I  have 
heard  since  the  war,  originated  in  General 
Kilpatrick's  brain.  It  furnishes  the  best 
specimen  of  cavalry  marching  upon  the 
Federal  side ;  but  it  showed,  upon  the  part 
of  somebody,  a  most  culpable  want  of  knowl- 


THE  MARYLAND  LINE.  471 

edge    of  data   upon  which    to   base   such    a 
movement. 

"  I  have  only  to  add  in  conclusion,  that 
what  appeared  in  the  Richmond  papers  of 
that  period  as  the  '  Dahlgren  papers/  was 
correctly  taken  from  the  papers  I  carried  in 
person  to  Mr.  Davis  ;  and  that  those  papers 
were  not  added  to  or  changed  in  the  minutest 
particular,  before  they  came  into  my  posses 
sion,  as  far  as  I  know  and  believe ;  and  that, 
from  all  the  facts  in  my  possession,  I  have 
every  reason  to  believe  they  were  taken 
from  the  body  of  Colonel  Ulric  Dahlgren, 
and  came  to  me  without  alteration  of  any 
kind." 

When  Mr.  Blair  came  to  Richmond  I  men 
tioned  Colonel  Dahlgren's  special  orders,  and 
he  said,  "  Did  you  believe  it?"  I  said  that 
there  had  been  no  time  for  such  a  forgery,  and 
that  there  was  an  itinerary  in  the  same  hand 
also.  Upon  Mr.  Blair  making  some  laughing 
remark  of  disbelief,  I  offered  to  send  for  the 
book,  and  said  it  had  been  photographed 
and  sent  to  General  Meade,  who  was  then  in 
our  front — "  with  an  inquiry  as  to  whether 
such  practices  were  authorized  by  his  Govern 
ment  ;  and  also  to  say  that  if  any  question 
was  raised  as  to  the  copies,  the  original  paper 
would  be  submitted."  No  such  question  was 


#*•  JEFFERSON  DAVIS. 

then  made,  and  the  denial  that  Dahlgren's 
conduct  had  been  authorized  was  accepted. 

Mr.  Blair  laughed  again  and  said:  "Now, 
the  fact  is  I  do  not  want  to  believe  it,  and  if  you 
could  convince  me  I  would  rather  not  look  at 
it."  I  had  felt  much  the  same  unwillingness, 
having  been  intimate  with  his  parents.  Once 
Commodore  Dahlgren  had  brought  the  little 
fair-haired  boy  to  show  me  how  pretty  he 
looked  in  his  black  velvet  suit  and  Vandyke 
collar,  and  I  could  not  reconcile  the  two  Ulrics. 

The  Maryland  Line,  commanded  by  Colo 
nel  Bradley  T.  Johnson,  rendered  noble  ser 
vice  in  the  conduct  of  his  force  against  the 
Dahlgren  raid. 

Shortly  after  this,  Colonel  Johnson  promised 
me  that  the  Maryland  Line  should  capture 
a  flag  for  me. 

In  the  following  fall,  September,  1864, 
there  was  a  sharp  cavalry  affair  between 
Early's  cavalry,  under  Lomax,  and  Sheridan's, 
under  Custer  and  Wilson,  at  Bunker  Hill,  in 
Buckley  County,  now  West  Virginia. 

Charge  and  counter-charge  succeeded  each 
other  back  and  forth  the  turnpike,  and  in  one 
of  them  Captain  George  M.  Emack,  com 
manding  Company  B,  First  Maryland  regi 
ment,  cut  down  the  man  carrying  the  guidon 
of  the  opposing  regiment,  while  he  wrested 
from  his  hand  the  guidon  and  brought  it  off. 


THE  MARYLAND  LINE.  473 

Emack  had  the  luck  that  some  men  have,  of 
being  hit  almost  every  time  he  went  under 
fire.  He  was  the  most  reckless,  daring  soldier 
of  that  gallant  command,  and  had  received 
sixteen  wounds  in  battle.  In  fighting  for  the 
guidon  he  received  his  seventeenth,  which 
sent  him  to  hospital  for  a  week  or  two. 
Colonel  Johnson  directed  him  to  deliver  the 
captured  guidon  to  me  in  person,  as  the  per 
formance  of  the  pledge  of  the  Maryland 
Line  to  me,  with  a  letter  announcing  the  ful 
filment  of  the  promise. 

It  was  preserved  as  a  souvenir  of  gallant 
service,  and  escaped  the  examination  of  my 
trunk  when  it  was  rifled  at  Fortress  Monroe 
after  the  capture  of  President  Davis.  I  have 
it  now ;  but  a  fine  Pennsylvania  flag  sent  at 
another  time  was  then  taken  from  me,  and 
possibly  figures  as  one  of  the  recaptured 
trophies  of  the  Federal  Armies. 


CHAPTER    XLVIII. 

DIPLOMATIC    CORRESPONDENCE. 

Now  that  disasters  threatened  us  from  all 
sides,  it  was  determined  by  Her  Britannic 
Majesty's  Government  to  take  an  open  course 
of  so-called  neutrality  toward  us. 

"H.  B.  M.'s  LEGATION, 
"WASHINGTON,  D.  C,  April  i,  1864. 

"  MR.  JEFFERSON  DAVIS,  etc.,  etc., 

"  Richmond,  Va. 

"  SIR:  I  have  been  instructed  by  Earl  Rus 
sell,  Her  Britannic  Majesty's  Secretary  for 
Foreign  Affairs,  to  convey  to  you  the  follow 
ing  extract  of  a  despatch  which  has  been  for 
warded  to  me  by  his  Lordship.  I  have  chos 
en  the  method  which  appeared  to  me  to  be 
the  only  available  one,  under  the  present  un 
happy  circumstances  in  which  the  country  is 
involved,  and  I  trust  that  the  absence  of  all 
recognized  diplomatic  or  consular  residents,  or 
other  agents  of  Her  Majesty  near  Richmond, 
will  be  recognized  as  sufficient  reason  for  its 
not  being  sent  through  usual  channels.  I 
need  scarcely  say  that  the  bearer  of  this  des- 


JEFFEKSON  DAVIS,    1860-64- 


VARINA  ANNE  DAVIS. 


DIPLOMATIC  CORRESPONDENCE.          475 

patch,  whom  you  have  consented  to  allow  to 
visit  Richmond,  has  been  authorized  by  the 
Government  of  the  United  States  to  pass  into 
your  lines,  on  the  flag  of  truce  boat,  for  the 
purpose  of  delivering  it,  and  will  desire  your 
permission  to  return  to  Washington  by  the 
same  mode  of  conveyance. 

"  I  have  the  honor  to  be,  with  high  respect, 
your  obedient,  humble  servant, 

<(  LYONS." 

Copy. 

"  You  will  also  convey  to  Mr.  Davis,  at 
Richmond,  through  such  channel  as  shall  be 
available,  and  as  you  may  in  your  discretion 
deem  proper,  the  formal  protest  and  remon 
strance  of  Her  Majesty's  Government  against 
the  efforts  of  the  authorities  of  the  so-called 
Confederate  States  to  build  war  vessels  with 
in  Her  Majesty's  dominions,  to  be  employed 
against  the  Government  of  the  United  States. 
Perhaps  your  Lordship  might  best  accomplish 
this  object  by  obtaining  permission  from  the  au 
thorities  of  both  belligerents  to  send  a  special 
messenger  to  Richmond  with  the  necessary  de 
spatch,  in  which  you  will  transmit  this  para 
graph,  or  the  substance  of  it,  together  with  all 
that  follows,  to  the  close  of  this  communication. 

"  Her  Majesty's  Government,  in  taking  this 
course,  desire  Mr.  Davis  to  rest  assured  that 


476  JEFFERSON  D 

it  is  adopted  entirely  in  that  spirit  of  neutral 
ity  which  has  been  declared  the  policy  of  this 
country  with  regard  to  the  two  belligerents 
now  so  lamentably  desolating  America,  and 
which  will  continue  to  be  pursued,  with  a 
careful  and  earnest  desire  to  make  it  condu 
cive  to  the  most  rigid  impartiality  and  justice. 

"  After  consulting  with  the  law  officers  of 
the  Crown,  Her  Majesty's  Government  have 
come  to  the  decision  that  agents  of  the 
authorities  of  the  so-called  Confederate  States 
have  been  engaged  in  building  vessels  which 
would  be,  at  least,  partially  equipped  for  war 
purposes  on  leaving  the  ports  of  this  country  ; 
that  these  war  vessels  would  undoubtedly  be 
used  against  the  United  States,  a  country 
with  which  this  Government  is  at  peace  ;  that 
this  would  be  a  violation  of  the  neutrality  laws 
of  the  realm  ;  and  that  the  Government  of  the 
United  States  would  have  just  ground  for 
serious  complaint  against  Her  Majesty's  Gov 
ernment,  should  they  permit  such  an  infrac 
tion  of  the  amicable  relations  subsisting  be 
tween  the  two  countries. 

"  Her  Majesty's  Government  confidently 
rely  on  the  frankness,  courtesy,  and  discern 
ment  which  Mr.  Davis  has  displayed  in  the 
difficult  circumstances  in  which  he  has  been 
placed  during  the  past  three  years,  for  a  rec 
ognition  of  the  correctness  of  the  position 


DIPLOMATIC   CORRESPONDENCE.  477 

which  Her  Majesty's  Government  have  taken 
upon  this  subject.  No  matter  what  might  be 
the  difficulty  of  proving  in  a  court  of  law  that 
the  parties  procuring  the  building  of  these 
vessels  are  agents  of  the  so-called  Confed 
erate  States,  it  is  universally  understood 
throughout  the  world  that  they  are  so,  and 
Her  Majesty's  Government  are  satisfied  that 
Mr.  Davis  would  not  deny  that  they  are  so. 
Constructed  as  'rams,'  as  these  vessels  are, 
they  would  certainly  be  in  a  condition,  on 
leaving  port,  to  inflict  the  most  serious  dam 
age  on  vessels  belonging  to  the  United 
States,  as  was  shown  by  the  destruction  of 
the  Cumberland,  United  States  sloop-of-war, 
by  the  '  ram '  Merrimac,  merely  by  the  latter 
being  run  into  collision  with  the  Cumberland. 
Such  vessels  are,  to  all  intents  and  purposes, 
equipped  as  war  vessels  of  a  certain  power, 
although  they  be  without  a  gun  or  any  am 
munition  on  board ;  nor  can  the  frequent  use 
of  the  word  'equip/  in  the  sense  of  '  to  fur 
nish  with  everything  necessary  for  a  voyage,' 
be  held  for  a  moment  to  limit  its  significance 
to  the  furnishing  of  a  war  vessel  with  every 
thing  upon  her,  or  the  ultimately  putting  of 
which  on  her  might  be  contemplated.  Such 
a  construction  cannot  be  entertained  for  an  in 
stant.  It  is  clear  that  a  hundred-and-twenty- 
gun  ship  might  be  equipped  for  war  purposes 


47S  JEFFERSON  DAVIS. 

with  any  fraction  of  her  armament  on  board, 
although  she  might  not  be  so  powerful  or  so 
efficient  as  she  would  be  if  she  had  the  whole 
of  it.  A  ram  would  be  also  equipped  for  war 
purposes,  although  the  absence  of  her  ord 
nance  and  ammunition  might  render  her  less 
effective  than  she  would  be  with  them.  This, 
it  is  presumed  by  Her  Majesty's  Government, 
will  be  conceded  by  Mr.  Davis  without  fur 
ther  argument  or  illustration  in  support  of  it. 

"This  much  being  established  to  the  per 
fect  conviction  of  Her  Majesty's  Government 
and  the  law  officers  of  the  Crown,  and  ad 
mitted,  as  they  are  convinced  it  must  be,  by 
Mr.  Davis,  and  by  every  other  person  of 
sound  and  impartial  judgment,  there  is  not  the 
slightest  room  to  doubt  that  it  is  purposed  to 
use  the  vessels  in  question  against  the  United 
States,  a  country  with  which  this  nation  is  at 
peace  and  on  terms  of  amity ;  and  that  the  per 
mitting  of  them  to  leave  the  ports  of  Her 
Majesty's  dominions  would  be  a  violation  of 
the  neutrality  laws  of  the  kingdom,  and  such 
an  injurious  act  toward  the  United  States  as 
would  justify  the  Government  of  that  country 
in  seriously  complaining  of  it  as  unfriendly  and 
offensive  in  the  highest  degree,  even  to  the 
imminent  peril  of  rupturing  the  peaceful  rela 
tions  now  existing  between  the  two  countries. 

"  Under  these  circumstances,  Her  Majesty's 


DIPLOMATIC  CORRESPONDENCE.  479 

Government  protest  and  remonstrate  against 
any  further  efforts  being  made  on  the  part  of 
the  so-called  Confederate  States,  or  the  au 
thorities  or  agents  thereof,  to  build  or  cause 
to  be  built,  or  to  purchase  or  to  cause  to  be 
purchased,  any  such  vessels  as  those  styled 
rams,  or  any  other  vessels  to  be  used  for  war 
purposes  against  the  United  States,  or  against 
any  country  with  which  the  United  Kingdom 
is  at  peace  or  on  terms  of  amity;  and  Her 
Majesty's  Government  further  protest  and  re 
monstrate  against  all  acts  in  violation  of  the 
neutrality  laws  of  the  realm. 

"  I  have  the  honor  to  be  your  Lordship's 
obedient  servant,  "  RUSSELL." 

The  reply. 

"  RICHMOND,  VA.,  C.  S.  A.,  April  6,  1864. 

"  To  the    RIGHT    HONORABLE    LORD   LYONS, 
C.B.,   &  H.  M.'s   Minister  to  the  Govern 
ment  of  the  United  States. 
"  MY  LORD  :   I  have  been  instructed  by  the 
President  to  acknowledge  the  receipt  of  a  de 
spatch  from  your  Lordship,  enclosing  a  copy  of 
a  portion  of  a  despatch  from  Earl  Russell,  H. 
B.  M.'s  Secretary  of  State  for  Foreign  Affairs, 
purporting  to  be  a  '  formal  protest  and  remon 
strance  of  Her  Majesty's  Government  against 
the  efforts  of  the  authorities  of  the  so-called 
Confederate  States  to  build  war  vessels  with- 


480  JEFFERSOiV  DAVIS. 

in  Her  Majesty's  dominions,  to  be  employed 
against  the  Government  of  the  United  States.' 

"  The  President  desires  me  to  say  to  your 
Lordship,  that  while  he  is  not  unwilling  to 
waive,  in  existing  circumstances,  the  transmis 
sion  of  such  a  document  through  other  than  the 
usual  and  proper  channel,  it  would  be  incon 
sistent  with  the  dignity  of  the  position  he  fills, 
as  Chief  Magistrate  of  a  nation  comprising  a 
population  of  more  than  twelve  millions,  occu 
pying  a  territory  many  times  larger  than  the 
United  Kingdom,  and  possessing  resources  un 
surpassed  by  those  of  any  other  country  on  the 
face  of  the  globe — to  allow  the  attempt  of  Earl 
Russell  to  ignore  the  actual  existence  of  the 
Confederate  States,  and  to  contumeliously  style 
them  '  so-called,'  to  pass  without  a  protest  and 
a  remonstrance.  The  President,  therefore, 
does  protest  and  remonstrate  against  this  stud 
ied  insult ;  and  he  instructs  me  to  say,  that  in 
future  any  document  in  which  it  may  be  repeat 
ed  will  he  returned  unanswered  and  unnoticed. 

"  With  respect  to  the  subject  of  the  extract 
from  Earl  Russell's  despatch,  the  President 
desires  me  to  state,  that  the  plea  of  neutrality, 
which  is  used  to  sustain  the  sinister  course  of 
Her  Majesty's  present  Government  against 
the  Government  of  the  Confederate  States,  is 
so  clearly  contradicted  by  their  actions,  that  it 
is  regarded  by  the  world,  not  even  excepting 


THE  MARYLAND  LINE.  481 

the  United  States,  as  a  mere  cover  for  actual 
hostility,  and  the  President  cannot  but  feel 
that  this  is  a  just  view  of  it.  Were,  indeed, 
Her  Majesty's  Government  sincere  in  a  de 
sire  and  determination  to  maintain  neutrality, 
the  President  could  not  but  feel  that  they 
would  neither  be  just  nor  gallant  to  allow  the 
subjugation  of  a  nation  like  the  Confederate 
States  by  such  a  barbarous,  despotic  race  as 
are  now  attempting  it.  He  cannot  but  feel, 
with  the  history  and  traditions  of  the  Anglo- 
Saxon  race  before  him,  that  under  a  govern 
ment  faithfully  representing  the  people  of 
Great  Britain,  the  whole  weight  and  power  of 
that  nation  would  be  unhesitatingly  thrown 
into  the  scale  in  favor  of  the  principles  of 
free  government,  on  which  these  States  were 
originally  formed,  and  for  which  alone  the 
Confederate  States  are  now  struggling.  He 
cannot  but  feel  that  with  such  a  government, 
and  with  the  plea  of  neutrality  urged  upon  the 
people  as  it  now  is,  no  such  pitiful  spectacle 
could  be  witnessed  as  is  now  manifested  by 
Her  Majesty's  present  Government,  in  the 
persistent  persecution  of  the  Confederate 
States  at  the  beck  and  bidding  of  officers  of 
the  United  States  ;  while  a  prime  minister 
mocks  and  insults  the  intelligence  of  a  House 
of  Commons  and  of  the  world,  by  excusing 
the  permission  to  allow  British  subjects  to  go 
VOL.  II.— 31 


482  JEFFERSON  DAVIS. 

to  the  United  States  to  fight  against  us,  by 
the  paltry  subterfuge  that  it  was  the  great  de 
mand  for  labor  and  the  high  rate  of  wages 
that  were  taking  them  thither.  He  cannot 
but  feel  that  a  neutrality  most  cunningly,  au 
daciously,  fawningly,  and  insolently  sought 
and  urged,  begged  and  demanded  by  one 
belligerent,  and  repudiated  by  the  other,  must 
be  seen  by  all  impartial  men  to  be  a  mere 
pretext  for  aiding  the  cause  of  the  one  at  the 
expense  of  the  other,  while  pretending  to  be 
impartial ;  to  be,  in  short,  but  a  cover  for 
treacherous,  malignant  hostility.  . 

"  As  for  the  specious  arguments  on  the 
subject  of  the  rams,  advanced  by  Earl  Rus 
sell,  the  President  desires  me  to  state  that  he 
is  content  to  leave  the  world  and  history  to 
pronounce  judgment  upon  this  attempt  to 
heap  injury  upon  insult,  by  declaring  that 
Her  Majesty's  Government  and  law  officers 
are  satisfied  of  the  questions  involved,  while 
those  questions  are  still  before  the  highest 
legal  tribunal  of  the  kingdom,  composed  of 
members  of  the  Government  and  the  highest 
law  officers  of  the  Crown,  for  their  decision. 
The  President  himself  will  not  condescend  to 
notice  them. 

"  I  have  the  honor  to  be  your  Lordship's 
obedient,  humble  servant 

"  BURTON  N,  HARRISON,  Private  Secretary'' 


CHAPTER     XLIX. 

FORT  PILLOW,  OCEAN  POND,  AND  MERIDIAN. 

FORT  PILLOW,  situated  on  the  east  bank  of 
the  Mississippi  River,  was  established  by  the 
State  of  Tennessee  in  1861.  It  was  afterward 
fortified  by  the  Confederate  States,  and  ef 
fectually  prevented  the  passage  of  the  Federal 
fleet.  When  the  Confederates  abandoned 
Corinth,  Fort  Pillow  was  necessarily  evacu 
ated  also,  and  was  immediately  occupied  by 
an  inconsiderable  Federal  force. 

On  April  12,  1864,  an  attack  was  made 
upon  the  fort  by  two  brigades  of  General  N. 
B.  Forrest's  force,  under  Mississippi's  gallant 
general,  J.  R.  Chalmers. 

The  Confederates  Drained  the  outer  works 

o 

and  drove  the  garrison  to  their  main  fortifica 
tions.  About  this  time  General  Forrest  ar 
rived  and  reconnoitred  the  whole  position, 
in  doing  which  he  had  two  horses  shot  under 
him  and  another  wounded.  He  discovered 
a  ravine  leading  up  in  the  near  vicinity  to 
the  southern  face  of  the  fort,  which,  if  seized, 
would  afford  complete  shelter  for  an  attack 
ing  column. 


484  JEFFERSON  DA  VIS. 

Two  ridges  also  gave  the  Confederate 
sharp-shooters  complete  command  of  the  inte 
rior  of  the  fort,  and  Forrest  decided  to  send  a 
formal  demand  for  surrender.  The  command 
ing  officer  was  notified  that  he  was  surrounded, 
and  that,  "  if  the  demand  was  acceded  to,  the 
gallantry  of  the  defence  already  made  would 
entitle  all  its  garrison  to  be  treated  as  prison 
ers  of  war." 

An  answer,  after  considerable  delay,  was 
brought  from  the  fort,  written  in  pencil  on  a 
soiled  scrap  of  paper,  without  envelope. 
"  Your  demand  does  not  produce  the  desired 
effect."  General  Forrest  read  it  and  hastily 
exclaimed :  "  This  will  not  do,  send  it  back, 
and  say  to  Major  Booth  that  I  must  have  an 
answer  in  plain  English — yes  or  no." 

Shortly  the  messenger  returned  with  "  no." 
Forrest  immediately  prepared  to  make  the 
assault.  The  bugle  sounded  the  "charge," 
and  the  Confederates,  with  a  rush,  cleared 
the  parapet  and  swept  with  their  fire  every 
face  of  the  work.  General  Forrest  drove  the 
enemy  toward  the  river,  leaving  their  flag  fly 
ing,  but  they  turned  and  fired  as  they  ran. 
The  gun-boat  failed  them  at  the  critical  mo 
ment,  and  stood  out  of  range  of  the  guns  of 
the  captured  fort.  Disappointed,  and  now 
thoroughly  panic-stricken,  many  of  the  enemy 
threw  themselves  into  the  river  and  were 


FORT  PILLOW.— OCEAN  POND.  485 

drowned ;  others,  with  arms  in  their  hands, 
endeavored  to  make  good  their  escape  in  dif 
ferent  directions,  but  were  met  by  flanking 
parties  of  the  Confederates  and  either  killed 
or  captured.  Fortunately  Forrest,  riding  into 
the  fort,  cut  down  the  flag,  and  the  firing  in 
stantly  ceased. 

On  the  Confederate  side  14  officers  and  men 
were  killed  and  86  wounded.  Under  a  flag 
of  truce,  a  steamer  came  to  the  landing  place, 
and  parties  were  allowed  to  come  ashore  to 
look  after  their  dead,  and  wounded,  to  bury 
the  former  and  remove  the  latter  to  the  trans 
port.  Of  the  wounded,  there  were  61 — 34 
whites  and  27  colored,  according  to  the  re 
ports  of  the  Federal  Surgeon  at  Mound  City, 
111.,  Hospital.  There  were  taken  prisoners  of 
war,  7  officers  and  219  enlisted  men  (56  ne 
groes,  163  whitesj)  un wounded,  which,  with 
the  wounded,  make  an  aggregate  of  those  who 
survived,  exclusive  of  all  who  may  have  es 
caped,  quite  300  souls,  or  fully  fifty-five  per 
cent,  of  all  the  garrison,  while  those  who  sur 
vived  unhurt  constituted  forty  per  cent*  This 
was  the  so-called  massacre  of  Fort  Pillow. 

The  year  1864  opened  auspiciously  for  the 
Confederates,  and  their  hopes  rose  high  after 
each  victory. 

Campaign  of  Lieutenant-General  N.  B.  Forrest. 


486  JEFFERSON  DAVIS. 

On  February  2Oth  Generals  Finnegan  and 
Colquitt,  near  Ocean  Pond,  Fla.,  with  5,000 
men,  achieved  a  victory  over  General  Sey 
mour's  7,000  troops  that  had  just  arrived  from 
Charleston  Harbor.  This  battle  expelled  the 
enemy  from  Florida. 

On  February  3d  General  Sherman,  with 
30,000  men,  without  opposition  crossed  the 
State  of  Mississippi  to  Meridian.  The  Feder 
al  cavalry  started  from  Corinth  and  Holly 
Springs,  and  laid  waste  that  fertile  district  on 
their  way  to  join  Sherman.  Our  great  cav 
alry,  leader,  General  Forrest,  with  2,500  cav 
alry  encountered,  attacked,  and  defeated  Gri- 
erson's  and  Smith's  cavalry  forces  near  West 
Point,  and  sent  them  back  to  Memphis.  By 
this  success  General  Forrest  forced  General 
Sherman  to  make  a  hurried  retreat  through 
one  hundred  and  fifty  miles  of  country  that 
his  soldiers  had  desolated  and  plundered. 

General  Banks  now  attempted  to  pene 
trate  Central  Texas,  and  destroy  the  Confed 
erate  lines  of  supplies  which  Texas  still  fur 
nished  plentifully,  the  transportation  of  them 
being  the  only  difficulty.  He  was  completely 
routed.* 

*  General  R.  Taylor  :  Destruction  and  Reconstruction. 


CHAPTER   L. 

VIRGINIA   CAMPAIGN,    1864. 

GENERAL  GRANT'S  theory  of  war  was,  "  to 
hammer  continuously  against  the  armed  force 
of  the  enemy,  until,  by  mere  attrition,  there 
should  be  nothing  left." 

Military  genius,  the  arts  of  war,  the  skilful 
handling  of  troops,  superior  strategy,  the  de 
votion  of  an  army,  the  noble  self-denial  of 
commanders,  all  must  give  way  before  the 
natural  forces  of  "  continuous  hammering  "  by 
an  army  with  unlimited  reinforcements,  and 
an  inexhaustible  treasury,  a  well-filled  com 
missariat,  and  all  directed  by  an  unanimous 
people. 

The  work  of  the  Federal  War  Department 
was  based  on  the  need  for  an  army  of  a  mill 
ion  of  men.  Vast  stores  were  accumulated. 
Congress,  with  reckless  prodigality,  continued 
to  pass  the  most  extravagant  appropriations 
for  organizing  armies,  and  for  maintaining  the 
countless  forces  which  constituted  an  army  of 
invasion  so  vast,  that  it  was  hoped  it  would 
be  invincible. 

Grant  took  command  on  March  17,  1864. 


488  JEFFERSON  DAVIS. 

The  Army  of  the  Potomac,  now  massed  on 
the  Rapidan,  numbered  141,160  men.  Gen 
eral  Lee,  to  oppose  this  vast  army,  had  50,- 
403  muskets.  The  cavalry  divisions  were 
weak,  neither  of  them  being  stronger  than  a 
good  brigade.  His  artillery  was  not  as  heavy, 
nor  was  his  ammunition  as  good  in  quality, 
as  that  of  the  enemy.  Lee's  entire  effective 
strength  did  not  exceed  64,000  men  of  all 
arms,  at  the  opening  of  the  spring  campaign* 
of  1864. 

On  May  4th  General  Grant  began  his 
march. 

It  was  doubtless  expected  that  Lee  would 
retreat  before  this  vast  army,  but  he,  on  the 
contrary,  gave  Grant  such  a  blow  in  the  Wil 
derness  that  he  was  compelled  to  halt  and 
deliver  battle. 

For  two  days  the  contest  raged,  and  only 
ceased  from  mutual  exhaustion.  It  was  dur 
ing  this  battle  that  a  notable  event  occurred  : 
"  Heth  and  Wilcox,  who  had  expected  to  be 
relieved,  and  were  not  prepared  for  the  ene 
my's  assault,  were  overpowered  and  com 
pelled  to  retire,  just  as  the  advance  of  Long- 
street's  column  reached  the  ground.  The 
defeated  divisions  were  in  considerable  dis 
order,  and  the  condition  of  affairs  was  ex 
ceedingly  critical.  General  Lee  fully  appre 
ciated  the  impending  crisis,  and,  dashing 


VIRGINIA    CAMPAIGN.  489 

amid  the  fugitives,  called  upon  the  men  to 
rally.  General  Longstreet,  taking  in  the  sit 
uation  at  a  glance,  immediately  caused  his  di 
visions  to  be  deployed  in  line  of  battle,  and 
advanced  to  recover  the  lost  ground.* 

Lee,  with  his  hat  in  his  hand,  spurred  his 
gray  charger  "  Traveller  "  to  the  front  of  his 
lines  to  lead  them  in  person  to  the  charge, 
but  the  soldiers  cried  out  with  one  voice  : 
"  Go  back,  General  Lee."  "  Go  back,  Uncle 
Robert."  "  To  the  rear,  General,  to  the 
rear,  and  we'll  fix  everything  all  right,"  and 
one  tall  Texan  stepped  to  his  horse's  side, 
and  taking  hold  of  the  bridle,  turned  him 
around  and  led  him  to  the  rear,  while  the 
men,  aroused  to  enthusiastic  frenzy,  gave 
vent  to  loud  yells,  pushed  the  enemy  before 
them,  and  re-established  the  Confederate 
lines. 

Longstreet  having  the  enemy  much  shaken, 
now  received  the  necessary  orders  to  pursue  ; 
but  at  the  moment  when  a  turning  movement 
was  being  executed,  and  a  complete  success 
was  crowning  his  efforts,  he  and  the  officers 
with  him  were  mistaken,  by  a  flanking  party 
of  his  own  troops,  for  the  enemy,  and  fired 
into.  General  Longstreet  was  seriously 
wounded,  and  General  Jenkins^  who  was 

*  Taylor's  Four  Years  with  Lee. 


490  JEFFERSON  DAVIS. 

riding  by  his  side,  fell  dead.  The  forward 
movement  was  checked,  and  the  enemy  were 
enabled  to  rally  their  forces  and  reform  be 
hind  their  intrenchments. 

Grant's  next  move  was  to  gain  possession 
of  Spottsylvania  Court  House,  but  Lee  com 
prehended  his  purpose  and  moved  off  in  the 
night.  The  heads  of  the  opposing  columns 
arrived  almost  at  the  same  time  at  their  des 
tination.  Both  armies  then  intrenched. 

On  the  1 2th,  the  enemy  made  a  heavy  as 
sault  on  Ewell's  front  and  broke  through,  but 
were  driven  out  with  great  loss.  The  on 
slaught  was  a  complete  surprise.  A  redoubt 
on  Ewell's  front  was  stormed  at  the  point  of 
the  bayonet,  nearly  three  thousand  Confed 
erates  were  taken  prisoners,  and  eighteen 
pieces  of  artillery  fell  into  the  hands  of  the 
enemy. 

General  Lee,  attributing  this  success  to  the 
want  of  vigilance  or  courage  of  his  men,  in 
stantly  rode  to  the  head  of  a  Texas  regiment. 
Waving  his  hat  in  the  air,  he  prepared  to 
lead  it  forward.  Spurring  rapidly  to  his  side, 
General  Gordon  seized  hold  of  his  horse's 
rein,  and  exclaimed,  "  This,  General  Lee,  is 
no  place  for  you  ;  these  are  men  who  never 
failed  you  yet,  and  who  will  not  fail  now." 

With  unanimous  voice  the  soldiers  around 
them  refused  to  advance,  unless  General  Lee 


VIRGINIA    CAMPAIGN.  491 

went  to  the  rear,  then  charging  with  Gordon 
leading,  the  salient  was  recaptured.* 

Although  General  Grant's  army  was  still 
so  strong  that,  after  covering  the  Confederate 
front  with  double  lines  of  battle,  he  still  had 
a  sufficient  force  with  which  to  outflank  his 
adversary  and  compel  him  to  make  a  counter- 
move  to  prevent  his  getting  between  him  and 
Richmond,  he  waited  from  the  I3th  to  the 
1 8th  of  May  for  reinforcements. 

On  the  night  of  May  2Oth,  General  Grant 
again  moved  away  in  the  direction  of  Han 
over  Junction.  Here  Lee  again  confronted 
him  and  offered  battle,  but  Grant  declined. 

On  May  26th  he  recrossed  to  the  north 
side  of  the  North  Anna  River  and  made  a 
detour  to  the  east.  General  Lee  moved  after 
him,  and  offered  him  battle  again  at  Atlee's 
Station,  and  again  it  was  declined.  On  June 
3d,  the  two  armies  met  on  the  blood-stained 
field  of  Cold  Harbor.  Here  the  Confeder 
ates  threw  up  a  light  intrenchment  of  earth, 
which  Grant  assaulted  all  along  the  line. 
The  assault  was  repulsed  with  extraordinary 
slaughter.  In  the  short  space  of  one  hour 
13,000  men  were  placed  "  hors  de  combat." 
Grant  ordered  a  second  assault  in  the  after- 

*  In  the  Ordnance  Museum,  at  Washington,  is  the  stump  of  a  large 
tree  that  had  been  cut  down  by  bullets,  so  close  and  deadly  was  the 
musketry  fire  in  the  captured  and  recaptured  salient. 


492  JEFFERSON  DAVIS. 

noon.  The  men  sullenly  refused  to  ad 
vance. 

After  this  battle  General-  Grant  gyrated 
toward  the  James  River,  below  Richmond, 
crossed  at  City  Point,  and  endeavored  to  sur 
prise  and  capture  Petersburg. 

In  this  he  was  thwarted  by  Generals  Beau- 
regard  and  Wise,  with  the  militia  and  home- 
guards.  He  then  concentrated  his  army 
south  of  the  Appomattox  River  and  laid 
siege  to  the  city. 

"  During  the  campaign  reinforcements 
reached  General  Lee  to  the  extent  of  14,400 
men,  making  78,400  as  the  aggregate  of  all 
troops  engaged  under  him  from  the  Wilder 
ness  to  Cold  Harbor. 

General  Grant  received  51,000  additional 
men  during  the  same  period,  bringing  his 
total  up  to  192,160  men  employed  by  him 
from  the  Rapidan  to  the  James. 

"  The  Federal  loss  in  the  battles  of  the 
Wilderness,  Spottsylvania,  North  Anna,  and 
Cold  Harbor  is  put  at  '  above  60,000  men  ' 
by  Mr.  Swinton,  in  his  '  History  of  the  Army 
of  the  Potomac."'* 

"  The  campaign  of  one  month,  from  May 
4th  to  June  4th,  had  cost  the  Federal  com 
mander  60,000  men  and  3,000  officers,  while 

*  Taylor's  Four  Years  with  Lee. 


VIRGINIA    CAMPAIGN.  493 

the  loss  of  Lee  did  not  exceed  18,000  men 
(of  whom  few  were  officers).  The  result 
would  seem  an  unfavorable  comment  upon 
the  choice  of  route  made  by  General  Grant. 
General  McClellan,  two  years  before,  had 
reached  Cold  Harbor  with  trifling  losses.  To 
attain  the  same  point  had  cost  General  Grant 
a  frightful  number  of  lives.  Nor  could  it  be 
said  that  he  had  any  important  success  to 
offset  this  loss.  He  had  not  defeated  his 
adversary  in  any  of  the  battle-fields  of  the 
campaign,  nor  did  it  seem  that  he  had  stricken 
him  any  serious  blow.  The  Army  of  North 
ern  Virginia,  not  reinforced  until  it  reached 
Hanover  Junction,  and  then  only  by  about 
9,000  men,  had  repulsed  every  assault,  and 
in  the  final  trial  of  strength  with  a  force  vast 
ly  its  superior,  had  inflicted  upon  the  enemy, 
in  about  an  hour,  a  loss  of  13,000  men."  * 

When  the  army  drew  closer  to  Richmond, 
Mr.  Davis's  visits  to  General  Lee,  which  had 
been  previously  made  as  often  as  his  execu 
tive  labor  permitted,  were  paid  every  day, 
and  the  spirits  in  which  the  President  return 
ed  were  dependent  on  the  General's  account 
of  the  progress  of  the  enemy ;  his  temper  al 
ways  became  more  cheerful  as  affairs  looked 
darker.  Mr.  Davis  had  a  childlike  faith  in 

*  John  Esten  Coolce,  in  Eclectic  Magazine,  May,  1872. 


494  JEFFERSON  DAVIS. 

the  providential  care  of  the  Just  Cause  by  Al 
mighty  God,  and  a  doubt  of  its  righteous 
ness  never  entered  his  mind.  Often  I  have 
heard  him  in  the  night  repeating  to  himself 
with  fervor  his  favorite  hymn, 

"  I'll  strengthen  thee,  help  thee,  and  cause  thee  to  stand 
Upheld  by  my  righteous,  omnipotent  hand." 

When  things  grew  darkest,  he  said,  "  We 
can  conquer  a  peace  against  the  world  in 
arms,  and  keep  the  rights  of  freemen,  if  we 
are  worthy  of  the  privilege.  If  he  had  de 
spaired  of  our  cause  he  was  too  sincere  to 
have  spoken  words  of  hope  to  the  soldiers. 
After  the  army  fell  back  to  Petersburg,  he 
looked  forward  to  personally  taking  command 
in  the  West,  and  co-operating  with  General 
Lee  in  one  great  battle  which  he  hoped  would 
be  decisive. 

On  one  of  the  lonely  rides  he  took  to  Gen 
eral  Lee's  headquarters,  a  very  young  soldier 
joined  him  and  went  with  him  some  distance 
on  the  road.  At  last  the  President  asked 
him  if  he  was  not  too  far  from  camp,  consider 
ing  the  close  proximity  of  the  enemy.  Then 
the  boy  told  him,  with  a  sheepish  look,  "  I 
joined  you,  sir,  because  you  were  so  near 
them,  and  I  thought  you  ought  not  to  be 
alone.  You  ought  to  have  a  guard  with  you." 
Mr.  Davis  noticed  that  he  had  on  broken 


VIRGINIA    CAMPAIGN.  495 

shoes  and  proposed  to  change  with  him,  but 
the  cheerful  young"  patriot  laughed  and  said 
that  was  no  matter,  shook  hands  warmly,  and 
saying,  "  Now  I  think  you  are  safe  beyond 
the  enemy's  scouts,"  bade  good-by. 

Our  soldiers  fought  for  the  love  they  bore 
to  their  country,  but  it  was  a  desperate  fight. 
They  had  to  contend  against  far  more  dread 
ful  foes  than  the  Federal  army.  They  fought 
cold,  heat,  starvation,  and  the  knowledge  that 
their  families  were  enduring  the  same  priva 
tions.  One  poor  fellow  from  Johnson's  Island, 
who  was  dying  of  the  want  endured  there, 
sent  for  me  and  asked  me  to  write  to  his  wife 
of  his  last  hours  and  give  her  his  love.  "  I 
have  a  letter  from  my  wife,"  he  said.  "  She 
walked  my  little  girl,  who  was  just  a  month 
old  when  I  saw  her  last,  up  and  down,  up  and 
down,  and  tried  willow-tea,  and  every  other 
remedy  she  could  think  of  for  the  baby's 
chills  ;  but  the  doctor  said  nothing  but  quin 
ine  could  save  her  ;  and  Madam,  my  wife  did 
not  have  that,  so  my  three  years  old  baby 
died,  and  now  I  am  dying,  and  my  poor, 
starving  wife  will  have 'nothing  to  comfort 
her  ;  but,"  he  panted  out,  "if  our  folks  can 
quit  freemen,  it  is  all  right."  This  spirit  of 
devotion  was  manifested  by  the  soldiers  and 
officers  of  the  Confederacy  everywhere,  and 
when  their  hearts  failed  them  from  brooding 


496  JEFFERSON  DAVIS. 

over  the  needs  of  their  helpless  families,  the 
women  choked  back  their  tears,  tried  to  for 
get  their  bare  feet,  their  meagre  fare,  their 
thousand  alarms  by  night,  and  all  the  grinding 
want  that  pressed  them  out  of  youth  and  life, 
and  wrote  of  the  cheer  our  victories  gave 
them,  of  their  prayers  for  success,  and  their 
power  to  endure  unto  the  end. 

One  noteworthy  example  of  the  self-sacri 
fice  of  our  soldiers  is  remembered  by  me 
with  especial  pride.  On  June  15  and  17, 
1864,  the  women  and  children  of  Richmond 
had  been  suffering  for  food,  and  the  Thirtieth 
Virginia  sent  them  one  day's  rations  of  flour, 
pork,  bacon,  and  veal,  not  from  their  abun 
dance,  but  by  going  without  the  day's  rations 
themselves.  "  Yet,"  said  a  journal  of  that 
time,  "  despatches  from  General  Lee  show 
that  nearly  every  regiment  in  his  army  has 
re-enlisted  for  the  war." 

On  April  3oth,  when  we  were  threatened 
on  every  side,  and  encompassed  so  perfectly 
that  we  could  only  hope  by  a  miracle  to  over 
come  our  foes,  Mr.  Davis's  health  declined 
from  loss  of  sleep  so  that  he  forgot  to  eat,  and 
I  resumed  the  practice  of  carrying  him  some 
thing  at  one  o'clock.  I  left  my  children  quite 
well,  playing  in  my  room,  and  had  just  uncov 
ered  my  basket  in  his  office,  when  a  servant 
came  for  me.  The  most  beautiful  and  brightest 


VIRGINIA    CAMPAIGN.  497 

of  my  children,  Joseph  Emory,  had,  in  play, 
climbed  over  the  connecting  angle  of  a  ban 
nister  and  fallen  to  the  brick  pavement  be 
low.  He  died  a  few  minutes  after  we  reached 
his  side.  This  child  was  Mr.  Davis's  hope, 
and  greatest  joy  in  life.  At  intervals,  he 
ejaculated,  "  Not  mine,  oh,  Lord,  but  thine." 
A  courier  came  with  a  despatch.  He  took  it, 
held  it  open  for  some  moments,  and  looked  at 
me  fixedly,  saying,  "  Did  you  tell  me  what 
was  in  it  ?  "  I  saw  his  mind  was  momentarily 
paralyzed  by  the  blow,  but  at  last  he  tried  to 
write  an  answer,  and  then  called  out,  in  a 
heart-broken  tone,  "  I  must  have  this  day 
with  my  little  child."  Somebody  took  the  des 
patch  to  General  Cooper  and  left  us  alone 
with  our  dead. 

VOL.  II.— 32 


CHAPTER  LI. 

YELLOW  TAVERN.— DEATH  OF  STUART. 

ON  the  morning  of  May  i3th,  Mr.  Davis 
came  hurriedly  in  from  the  office  for  his  pis 
tols,  and  rode  out  to  the  front,  where  Gener 
als  Gracie  and  Ransom  were  disposing  their 
skeleton  brigades  to  repel  General  Sheridan's 
raiders,  who  had  been  hovering  around  for 
some  days.  At  the  Executive  Mansion,  the 
small-arms  could  be  distinctly  heard  like  the 
popping  of  fire-crackers.  I  summoned  the 
children  to  prayer,  and  as  my  boy  Jefferson 
knelt,  he  raised  his  little  chubby  face  to  me, 
and  said,  "  You  had  better  have  my  pony 
saddled,  and  let  me  go  out  to  help  father ;  we 
can  pray  afterward/' 

Wherever  it  was  possible,  the  President 
went  to  the  battle-field,  and  was  present  dur 
ing  the  engagement,  and  at  these  times  he 
bitterly  regretted  his  executive  office,  and 
longed  to  engage  actively  in  the  fight. 

A  line  of  skirmishers  had  been  formed  near 
the  Yellow  Tavern,  our  forces  were  closely 
pressed,  and  seeing  a  brigade  preparing  to 
charge  on  the  left,  General  J.  E.  B.  Stuart 


YELL  OW  TA  VERN.—DEA  TH  OF  STUAR T.    499 

dashed  over  there  to  form  his  troops  and  re 
pel  the  charge.  The  Federals  came  thunder 
ing  down,  recognized  Stuart,  and  fired  twelve 
shots  at  him ;  he  wheeled  upon  them  and  emp 
tied  his  revolver,  then  checked  his  horse  and 
rode  for  our  lines,  knowing  he  had  been  mor 
tally  wounded.  His  death-wound  is  said  to 
have  been  dealt  by  a  skulker  concealed  in  a 
fence  corner.  A  bullet  struck  him  in  the  hip 
and  passed  through  the  abdomen.  Like  the 
Cid,  he  felt  the  menace  to  the  foe  his  pres 
ence  would  be,  and  asked  his  staff  to  hold 
him  upon  the  saddle,  that  the  enemy  might 
not  see  he  was  wounded.  Thus  supported,  he 
rode  into  our  lines  to  die,  confident  of  having 
done  his  whole  duty,  at  peace  with  God,  and 
willing,  if  it  was  His  will,  to  leave  the  strug 
gle  and  the  end  to  His  good  pleasure. 

His  wound  was  found  to  be  necessarily 
mortal.  His  condition  during  Thursday, 
May  13,  1864,  was  very  changeable,  with  oc 
casional  delirium  and  other  unmistakable 
symptoms  of  dissolution.  At  these  times  his 
mind  wandered,  and  like  the  immortal  Jack 
son,  in  the  lapse  of  reason  his  faculties  were 
occupied  with  the  details  of  his  command. 
He  reviewed,  in  broken  sentences,  all  his 
glorious  campaign  around  McClellan's  rear 
on  the  Peninsula,  beyond  the  Potomac,  and 
upon  the  Rapidan,  quoting  from  his  own 


500  JEFFERSON  DAVIS. 

orders,  with  a  last  injunction  "  to  make 
haste." 

About  noon,  Thursday,  President  Davis 
visited  his  bedside  and  spent  some  fifteen 
minutes  in  the  dying  chamber  of  his  young 
chieftain.  The  President,  taking  his  hand, 
said,  "General,  how  do  you  feel?"  He  re 
plied,  in  his  strong,  cheery  voice,  "  Easy, 
but  willing  to  die,  if  God  and  my  country 
think  I  have  fulfilled  my  destiny  and  done  my 
duty."  Mr.  Davis  came  home  and  knelt  with 
me  in  a  prayer  in  which  he  entreated  that  this 
"precious  life  might  be  spared  to  our  needy 
country."  As  evening  approached  Stuart's 
delirium  increased,  and  he  wandered  to  the 
battle-fields  over  which  he  had  fought,  then 
to  wife  and  children,  and  again  to  the  front. 

He  held  his  family  next  only  to  his  coun 
try.  A  notable  instance  was  given  once, 
when  he  was  telegraphed  that  his  first  and 
only  child  was  dying ;  this  reply  was  sent 
with  the  tears  raining  over  his  cheeks  :  "  I 
must  leave  my  child  in  the  hands  of  God, 
my  country  needs  me  here,  I  cannot  come." 

General  Stuart  was  but  thirty-one  years  old, 
yet  he  had  attained  a  noble  fame,  and  no  one 
dissented  from  the  praise  bestowed  upon 
"  Beauty  Stuart."  He  had  lived  void  of 
offence  toward  his  fellow-men,  and  life  was 
for  him  one  long  feast  of  good-will  toward 


YELL o  w  TA  VEkN.—bEA  rti  o&  STUAR  T.   ^\ 

them.  From  his  boyhood,  he  had  never 
sworn  oaths  or  drunk  spirituous  liquors,  or 
indeed  indulged  in  any  vice.  With  the  sim 
ple  faith  of  a  child,  he  did  what  his  conscience 
dictated.  He  sang,  laughed,  fought,  and 
prayed  throughout  all  the  deprivations  and 
hardships  of  the  Confederate  service,  never 
daunted,  never  carping  at  the  mistakes  of 
others.  When  his  young  life  was  torn  out 
of  his  stalwart  body,  and  in  the  agonies  of 
death  he  was  told  he  could  not  live  to  see 
his  young  wife,  as  she  could  not  reach  him  in 
the  few  hours  left,  he  said  gently,  "  I  should 
have  liked  to  have  seen  her,  but  God's  will 
be  done." 

To  the  doctor,  who  sat  holding  his  fail 
ing  pulse,  he  remarked  :  "  Doctor,  I  suppose 
I  am  going  fast  now.  It  will  soon  be  over. 
But  God's  will  be  done.  I  hope  I  have 
fulfilled  my  duty  to  my  country  and  my 
God." 

At  half-past  seven  o'clock  it  was  evident  to 
the  physicians  that  death  was  very  near,  and 
they  announced  the  fact,  and  asked  him  if  he 
had  any  last  messages  to  give.  The  General, 
with  a  mind  entirely  self-possessed,  made  dis 
position  of  his  personal  effects  to  his  staff. 
To  Mrs.  R.  E.  Lee,  he  directed  his  golden 
spurs  to  be  given  as  a  dying  memento  of  his 
love  and  esteem  for  her  husband.  To  his 


5o2  JEFFERSON  DAVIS. 

staff  officers  he  gave  his  horses.  So  consid 
erate  was  he  in  small  things,  even  to  his  dy 
ing  hour,  that  he  said  to  one  of  his  staff,  who 
was  a  very  heavily  built  man,  "  You  had  bet 
ter  take  the  larger  horse  ;  he  will  carry  you 
better."  To  his  young  son  he  left  his  glori 
ous  sword. 

His  worldly  matters  closed,  he  turned  to 
the  contemplation  of  eternity,  and  asked  the 
Reverend  Mr.  Peterkin,  of  the  Episcopal 
Church,  of  which  he  was  an  exemplary  mem 
ber,  to  sing  the  hymn  commencing, 

"  Rock  of  ages,  cleft  for  me, 
Let  me  hide  myself  in  thee," 

and  joined  with  all  the  voice  his  strength  per 
mitted.  He  then  united  in  prayer  with  the 
minister.  To  the  doctor  he  again  said,  "  I 
am  going  fast  now ;  God's  will  be  done." 
Thus  died  General  J.  E.  B.  Stuart,  the  great 
cavalry  leader  and  exemplary  Christian,  at 
peace  with  God  and  man. 

His  wife  reached  the  house  of  death  about 
ten  o'clock  on  the  Thursday  night,  about  one 
hour  and  a  half  after  his  dissolution,  and  the 
poor  young  creature  was  utterly  desolate. 
Her  father  was  a  Federal  general  in  the  reg 
ular  army,  and  she  was  separated  even  from 
her  family  in  her  hour  of  trial.  General 
Philip  St.  George  Cooke,  however,  was  an 


YELL O  W  TA  VERN. -DE A  TH  OF  STUAR  T.     503 

honorable  foe,  and  his  old  friends  sorrowed 
with  her  for  his  sake  also. 

No  military  escort  accompanied  the  pro 
cession,  but  our  young  hero  was  laid  in  his 
last  resting-place  on  the  hill-side,  while  the 
earth  trembled  with  the  roar  of  artillery  and 
the  noise  of  the  deadly  strife  of  two  armies 
— the  one  bent  upon  desecrating  and  de 
vastating  his  native  land,  and  the  other  defi 
antly  standing  in  the  path,  but  invoking  the 
blessing  of  Heaven  upon  their  cause.  They 
fought  in  better  cheer  for  the  memory  of  such 
sainted  leaders  as  Stonewall  Jackson  and 
Beauty  Stuart. 


CHAPTER   LII. 

BOMBARDMENT   OF   CHARLESTON. 

ON  August  21,  1863,  a  letter  without  sig 
nature  was  sent  from  Major-General  Gilmore's 
headquarters,  in  front  of  Charleston,  to  Gen 
eral  Beauregard,  informing  him  that  unless 
certain  extraordinary  conditions  were  com 
plied  with,  or  if  no  reply  thereto  was  received 
within  "four  hours  "  after  the  delivery  of  the 
letter  at  Battery  Wagner  for  transmission  to 
Charleston,  fire  would  be  opened  on  the 
city  from  batteries  already  established.  Gen 
eral  Beauregard  received  that  letter  about 
eleven  o'clock  at  night,  and  two  hours  later, 
when  the  city  was  in  profound  repose,  Major- 
General  Gilmore  opened  fire  on  it,  and  threw  a 
number  of  the  most  destructive  projectiles  ever 
before  used  against  the  sleeping  and  unarmed 
population.  If  Major- General  Gilmore  only 
desired  to  go  through  the  barren  form  of  giv 
ing  notice  of  his  intentions  without  allowing 
the  non-combatants  time  to  withdraw,  he 
would  have  accomplished  that  useless  end,  if, 
in  his  haste  and  eagerness  to  begin  his  work, 


CONFEDERATE  GENERALS. 


BOMBARDMENT  OF  CHARLESTON.      $0$ 

he  had  not  forgotten  to  sign  so  important  a 
letter. 

The  time  allowed  was  four  hours  from  the 
delivery  of  the  letter  at  Battery  Wagner  for 
transmission  to  General  Beauregard's  head 
quarters,  five  miles  distant.  Major-General 
Gilmore  knew  very  well  that  in  the  ordinary 
course  of  transmission,  all  the  time  allowed 
would  elapse  before  he  could  receive  a  reply 
to  his  demand,  and  he  knew  quite  as  well 
that  it  was  impossible,  in  the  brief  space  of 
time  allowed,  to  remove  the  non-combatants 
of  a  large  and  populous  city.  It  is  clear, 
therefore,  that  due  time  was  not  allowed,  and 
that  the  object  of  the  notification  was  not 
that  non-combatants  might  be  removed. 

The  object  of  the  foe,  according  to  Major- 
General  Gilmore,  was  to  enforce  the  surrender 
of  an  important  fort  which  he  could  not  re 
duce,  for  after  withstanding  for  nearly  a  year 
the  most  formidable  bombardment  from  land 
and  naval  batteries  ever  before  directed  on 
one  fort,  the  Confederate  flag  was  still  flying 
on  Fort  Sumter.  Failing  in  that,  his  next  ob 
ject  was  to  destroy  the  city  to  its  very  heart, 
or  to  make  it  uninhabitable  by  non-combatants. 

Independently  of  the  declaration  of  Major- 
General  Gilmore  that  his  purpose  was  to 
reach  "the  heart  of  the  city,"  the  manner  in 
which  the  fire  had  been  directed  from  the 


506  JEFFERSON  DAVIS. 

commencement,  showed  beyond  doubt  that  its 
object  was  the  destruction  of  the  city  itself, 
and  every  part  of  it,  and  not,  as  assumed, 
to  destroy  certain  military  and  naval  works  in 
and  immediately  around  it. 

Having  failed  to  frighten  the  Confederate 
commander  into  compliance  with  his  un 
reasonable  demand,  Major- General  Gilmore 
threw  a  few  more  shells  (twenty-seven  in  all) 
into  the  city,  for  no  conceivable  object  than  to 
frighten  away  and  kill  a  few  non-combatants, 
to  show  how  far  he  could  throw  his  projectiles, 
to  gratify  a  spirit  of  malice,  and  then  ceased. 
From  August  2ist  to  October  27th,  not  a 
shot  or  shell  was  thrown  into  the  city. 

He  doubtless  supposed  that  by  that  time 
the  non-combatants,  whom  he  supposed  had 
been  frightened  away,  had  returned  to  the 
city  ;  for  he  knew  well  that  the  mass  of  non- 
combatant  population  of  a  large  city  situated 
as  Charleston,  would  not,  and  could  not, 
abandon  their  houses  permanently  and  be 
come  homeless  wanderers.  He  knew  that 
the  climate  of  the  country  immediately  around 
Charleston  was  considered  deadly  at  that 
season  of  the  year  to  white  persons,  and  that 
if  any  poor  people,  unable  to  secure  residences 
in  the  sparsely  settled  interior,  had  fled,  on 
the  beginning  of  the  fire,  to  the  immediately 
surrounding  country  to  escape  his  shells, 


BOMBARDMENT  OF   CHARLESTON.        507 

they  would  naturally,  after  so  long  an  inter 
mission  of  fire,  return  to  the  city  to  escape  the 
malaria,  more  deadly  than  his  projectiles. 

On  October  27th,  after  an  interval  of 
more  than  two  months,  without  a  word  of 
warning,  he  again  opened  fire  and  threw 
shells  into  the  city,  just  enough  to  frighten, 
irritate,  and  kill  a  few  non-combatants,  but 
not  enough  to  produce  any  military  result, 
and  then  ceased  firing  for  three  weeks. 

On  November  i7th,  he  again  opened 
and  continued  a  very  slow  fire.  It  was 
apparent  that  the  fire  was  directed  against 
churches  during  the  hours  of  public  worship, 
Christmas-day,  1863. 

The  Confederate  prisoners,  in  the  hands 
of  the  enemy  were  held  confined,  under  the 
fire  of  our  batteries,  to  hinder  our  resistance. 


CHAPTER    LIII. 

BATTLE    OF   DRURY'S   BLUFF,    MAY    16,  1864. 

GRANT'S  plan  of  campaign  was,  if  he  should 
be  unable  to  defeat  Lee,  or  fail  to  take  Rich 
mond,  to  cross  the  James  River  below  Rich 
mond,  and  possess  himself  of  Petersburg,  cut 
off  the  supplies  from  the  Confederate  Capital, 
and,  reinforced  by  Butler  with  30,000  men, 
attack  it  from  the  south. 

Butler  was  ordered  to  concentrate  his  troops 
at  City  Point.  •  From  this  base  he  was  to  de 
stroy  the  railroad  leading  to  Richmond.  On 
May  7th  he  telegraphed  he  had  "  destroyed 
many  miles  of  railroad,  and  got  a  position 
which,  with  proper  supplies,  we  can  hold 
against  Lee's  whole  army." 

On  May  loth  General  Butler  was  badly 
beaten  at  Walthall  Junction,  and  returned  to 
his  intrenched  lines  at  Bermuda  Hundreds. 

The  Confederate  troops  which  had  been 
ordered  from  Charleston  under  Beauregard, 
on  May  I4th  reached  the  intrenched  lines  in 
the  vicinity  of  Dairy's  Bluff.  Butler  moved 
forward  again  to  confront  them. 

General  Robert  Ransom  said,  in  a  mono- 


BATTLE    OF  DRURY'S  BLUFF.  509 

graph  upon  this  battle  :  "  Beauregard,  with 
headquarters  at  Charleston,  had  been  urged 
to  send  up  troops  from  his  department,  but 
none  had  arrived.  Butler  had  moved  up  so 
as  to  cut  the  telegraph  on  the  turnpike,  and 
reach  by  a  raiding  party  the  railroad  at  Ches 
ter,  during  the  first  week  in  May.  I  was  near 
Drury's  Bluff  with  a  battery  of  light  guns  and 
Barton's  and  Gracie's  brigades,  and  our  com 
pany  of  irregular  cavalry.  The  President 
came  to  my  camp,  and  finding  out  the  state 
of  affairs,  asked  if  anything  could  be  done  to 
retard  Butler's  movements,  stating  that  as 
Beauregard  would  not  send  troops,  he  had 
been  peremptorily  ordered  to  bring  them,  and 
that  some  were  on  the  way.  Knowing  that 
audacity  was  my  best  arm,  the  next  morning, 
with  perfect  leisure  and  with  a  front  sufficient 
to  cover  an  army  of  50,000  men,  I  pushed  upon 
Butler's  advance,  had  a  sharp  skirmish,  and 
came  near  capturing  a  brigade  and  battery, 
and  Butler  withdrew.  Some  of  Beauregard's 
troops  drove  him  from  the  railroad  and  turn 
pike,  at  Port  Walthall.  Upon  Beauregard's 
arrival  at  Petersburg  he  was  given  command 
as  far  north  as  to  include  Drury's  Bluff. 
While  lying  near  Drury's  Bluff  on  the  night 
of  May  Qth,  about  ten  o'clock,  I  got  a  despatch 
informing  me  of  the  fall  of  J.  E.  B.  Stuart, 
mortally  wounded,  at  Yellow  Tavern,  and  that 


5io  JEFFERSON  DAVIS. 

Sheridan  was  expected  to  assault  the  outer 
works  north  of  Richmond,  at  dawn  the  next 
day.  Immediately  my  two  movable  brigades, 
Grade's  and  Fry's,  and  a  light  battery  were 
hastened  to  and  through  Richmond,  and  I 
arrived  with  them  at  the  fortifications  on  Me- 
chanicsville  turnpike  just  in  time,  the  morn 
ing  of  May  loth,  to  see  a  battery  of  artillery 
there,  unsupported  by  anything,  repulse  the 
advance  of  Sheridan.  During  the  night  the 
clerks  and  citizens,  under  General  Custis  Lee, 
had  spread  a  thin  line  along  part  of  the  fortifi 
cations  toward  the  west,  near  the  Brook  and 
Meadow  Bridge  roads.  Hunton's  brigade  was 
at  Chafin's  Bluff,  it  being  impracticable  to  with 
draw  it  from  that  position.  As  the  day  ad 
vanced  Gracie's  brigade  was  thrown  in  front  of 
the  works  and  pressed  forward  to  feel  Sheri 
dan,  but  it  was  soon  evident  that  we  could  make 
no  real  impression  on  him,  and  I  regarded  it 
as  almost  madness  with  two  small  brigades  to 
engage  in  an  open  country  five  times  my 
strength,  thereby  leaving  Richmond  entirely 
unprotected,  except  by  the  clerks  and  citizens. 
Sheridan  withdrew,  Gracie's  and  Fry's  bri 
gades  returned  to  near  Drury's  Bluff. 

During  the  week  most  all  of  Beauregard's 
troops  had  come  up.  In  obedience  to  a  de 
spatch  from  him,  at  about  2  or  2.30  P.M.,  I  met 
Beauregard  at  Major  Drury's  residence,  about 


BATTLE   OF  DRURY'S   BLUFF.  511 

a  mile  from  the  Bluff.  He  was  surrounded  by 
a  large  staff,  and  clerks  were  busy.  He  accost 
ed  me  with  much  gravity,  almost  solemnity,  in 
timated  to  those  present  to  withdraw,  we  were 
alone,  with  perhaps  the  exception  of  two  or 
three  persons.  I  remarked  that  I  had  got  his 
despatch  and  had  come  as  quickly  as  possible. 
He  asked  me  if  the  President  had  told  me 
what  I  was  wanted  for,  and  to  my  replying 
no,  Beauregard  said,  in  about  these  words  : 
*  The  President  has  ordered  me  to  give  But 
ler  battle  at  once.  It  is  against  my  judg 
ment,  and  I  have  protested  against  it,  but  to 
no  avail.  You  make  the  fight  to-morrow, 
and  you  are  to  command  the  left  wing. 
Among  other  reasons  given  for  not  fighting 
was  that  I  am  without  officers  to  command, 
and  particularly  those  who  know  this  country. 
The  President  said  you  could  be  spared  tem 
porarily,  and  as  you  know  the  region,  I  have 
given  you  the  moving  part  of  the  army,  and 
you  will  take  the  initiative.'  By  this  time  the 
room  was  again  filled  with  officers  and  cour 
iers,  and  a  copy  of  the  order  of  battle  was 
handed  me.  After  reading  it  and  finding  that 
Ransom's  brigade  formed  part  of  the  reserve, 
I  asked  that  it  might  be  given  to  me  in  ex 
change  for  any  I  had  had  assigned  to  me, 
stating  that  '  I  had  organized  and  commanded 
it  for  more  than  a  year,  and  that  I  knew  it 


5 1 2  JEFFERSON  DA  VIS. 

and  it  knew  me.'  General  Beauregard  de 
clined  to  make  the  change,  saying,  '  It  is 
the  strongest  brigade  in  my  army,  and  I  must 
hold  it  in  case  of  disaster.' 

"  My  staff,  couriers,  and  horses  were  in 
Richmond,  and  were  sent  for  ;  there  was  not 
a  wagon  to  my  division.  Everything  that  I 
could  do  was  done  to  be  ready.  By  sun 
down  staff  and  horses  had  arrived,  and  by 
10  P.M.,  or  a  little  later,  I  was  in  position  in 
front  of  the  breastworks  on  Drury's  planta 
tion.  An  independent  regiment  of  cavalry 
was  to  move  between  me  and  the  river,  for 
information.  At  the  first  glimpse  of  day 
light  I  moved  to  the  south  of  Kingsland 
Creek,  and  at  once  pushed  upon  the  enemy. 
A  dense  fog  had  suddenly  enveloped  every 
thing.  The  skirmishers  were  quickly  en 
gaged,  and  immediately  a  general  infantry 
fire.  The  fighting  was  pressed  to  conclusion, 
and  by  sunrise  I  had  captured  a  brigade  of 
infantry  and  a  battery  of  artillery,  and  swept 
and  occupied  about  three-quarters  of  a  mile 
of  the  enemy's  temporary  breastworks,  which 
were  strengthened  by  wire  interwoven  among 
the  trees  in  their  front ;  not  however  without 
considerable  loss  and  much  confusion,  owing 
to  the  denseness  of  the  fog.  Requiring  in 
fantry  cartridges,  and  knowing  that  delay 
would  mar  the  success  gained,  I  sent  instantly 


BATTLE   OF  DRURY'S   BLUFF.  513 

to  Beauregard  reporting  what  had  happened, 
and  asked  that  Ransom's  brigade  might 
come  to  me  at  once  to  continue  the  pressure 
and  make  good  the  advantage  already  gained. 
Beauregard  refused.  The  ammunition  being 
still  delayed,  I  again  begged  that  Ransom's 
brigade  be  sent  me,  but  instead  of  that  there 
came  two  small  regiments  from  Georgia. 
Just  as  they  reported  to  me  the  fog  lifted,  the 
enemy  made  a  dash  on  Hoke's  left  and  broke 
Hagood's  brigade  ;  but  I  threw  these  two 
Georgia  regiments  upon  the  advancing  enemy, 
checked  and  repulsed  him.  After  this  I  saw 
no  more  of  the  Georgia  regiments,  hearing 
however  that  by  Beauregard's  orders  they 
had  gone  elsewhere.  At  this  junction,  and 
having  been  supplied  ammunition,  and  while 
clearing  away  some  trees  that  had  luckily 
been  felled  by  the  enemy  across  the  road,  I 
got  an  order  from  Beauregard  to  advance  by 
'  brigades  in  echelon,  left  in  front.'  This 
movement  was  begun,  Gracie's  brigade  lead 
ing  and  I  with  it.  After  advancing  some  dis 
tance  I  heard  firing  to  right  and  rear,  and 
galloping  in  that  direction  to  ascertain  its 
cause,  failed  to  find  my  two  rearmost  brig 
ades  where  they  ought  to  have  been.  The 
firing  had  ceased,  and  to  my  anxiety  I  found 
that  a  wide  interval  between  my  two  left 
brigades  and  the  other  troops  existed.  Has- 
VOL.  II.-33 


514  JEFFERSON  DAVIS. 

tening  on,  I  discovered  my  troops  upon  the 
line  of  our  breastworks.  Sending  word  to 
halt  the  forward  brigades,  and  ordering  the 
others  to  their  positions,  I  galloped  to  Beau- 
regard,  then  in  sight  and  only  two  or  three 
hundred  yards  off,  I  reported  what  had  hap 
pened,  and  asked  that  nothing  similar  be  per 
mitted.  He  said,  '  It  is  as  well,  I  am  hard 
pressed  on  the  right,  and  we  may  have  to 
withdraw  to  the  breastworks,  and  most  of 
our  force  come  to  the  right ;  I  fear  my  flank 
may  be  turned/  or  words  to  that  effect. 

"  I  remained  with  Beauregard  at  his  request 
for  perhaps  an  hour.  The  firing  did  not  indi 
cate  hard  fighting  on  the  right.  There  was  no 
firing  on  my  front.  I  heard,  while  with  Beau- 
regard,  that  the  enemy  was  moving  over  the 
turnpike.  This  was  reported  to  Beauregard 
direct.  After  being  with  Beauregard,  I  sup 
pose  an  hour,  I  left  for  my  command,  await 
ing  his  directions,  as  he  had  ordered  me  to  re 
main  stationary  till  he  gave  different  instruc 
tions.  Beauregard  more  than  once,  while  I  re 
mained  with  him,  remarked  upon  not  hearing 
anything  of  Whiting,  and  seemed  nervous 
about  him.  The  day  wore  away,  and  I,  be 
coming  more  than  impatient,  about  3  P.M.,  as 
I  recall  the  time,  went  to  seek  Beauregard. 
I  found  him  with  many  other  gentlemen,  the 
President,  and  Secretary  Reagan,  among 


BATTLE   OF  DRURY'S   BLUFF.  515 

others,  in  the  turnpike  just  north  of  where 
the  fortifications  cross  it.  I  heard  no  firing  of 
any  sort  except  an  occasional  shot  from  a 
field  battery  of  the  enemy,  its  shells  were 
thrown  directly  up  the  turnpike.  While  we 
all  stood  in  this  locality  a  slight  shower  of 
rain  fell,  not  enough  to  wet  anyone  in  even 
thin  clothing.  A  little  before  five  o'clock,  I 
think,  Beauregard  seemed  to  have  deter 
mined  upon  some  aggressive  movement.  I 
was  directed  to  have  my  troops  ready  to 
move  at  an  instant's  notice,  and  to  await  or 
ders.  I  galloped  to  my  division  and  waited 
with  impatience  and  disgust  till  after  sun 
down,  when  the  order  came,  '  Bivouac  for 
the  night.'  About  an  hour  or  so  after  sun 
rise  the  next  day,  the  I7th,  we  were  ordered 
to  move  down  the  river  road.  Proceeding  to 
some  distance  below  the  Howlett  place,  at 
about  4  P.M.,  not  having  come  upon  the 
enemy,  I  was  relieved  from  command  by  a 
commendatory  order.  .  .  .  Immediately 
I  returned  to  my  duties  north  of  the  James. 

"  Beauregard  reluctantly  came  to  the  thea 
tre  of  active  war.  He  made  verbal  and  writ 
ten  protests  against  giving  battle  to  Butler. 
He  courted  defeat  by  expecting  it.  He 
showed  repeatedly  that  he  did  not  think  vic 
tory  possible.  He  refused  me  Ransom's  bri 
gade,  anticipating  '  disaster.'  He  held  me 


5i6  JEFFERSON  DAVIS. 

by  his  side  for  an  hour  and  delayed  or 
stopped  the  movement  of  my  division  after 
10  or  ii  A.M.  He  looked  for  the  turning  of 
his  flank,  and  was  preparing  for  retreat  to 
within  intrenchments  while  the  enemy  was 
escaping,  and  not  until  Butler  was  safe  at  Ber 
muda  Hundreds  did  Beauregard  realize  that 
victory  complete  and  crushing  ought,  and  could 
easily  have'been  inflicted  upon  Butler.  This, 
like  other  of  his  battles,  was  to  be  fought  over 
on  paper  to  establish  Beauregard's  record. 

"  The  sequel  to  the  battle  of  Drury's  Bluff 
was  in  keeping  with  Beauregard's  efforts  to 
father  upon  the  true  and  gallant  Ewell,  Beau- 
regard's  shortcomings  at  First  Manassas, 
when,  utterly  failing,  they  were  laid  upon  an 
unknown  and  nameless  courier  ;  it  is  but  an 
other  exemplification  of  that  prolific  incapac 
ity  which  turned  the  rich  fruit  of  the  splendid 
genius  of  Sidney  Johnston  at  Shiloh  into  bit 
ter  ashes." 

Our  troops  were  then  withdrawn  to  an  in 
ner  and  shorter  line,  closer  to  the  works  at 
Drury's. 

"  On  the  afternoon  of  the  I4th,"  wrote 
Mr.  Davis,  "  I  rode  down  to  visit  General 
Beauregard. * 

| 

*  A  letter  from  General  Beauregard  to  General  Bragg,  dated 
Weldon,  April  29th,  gave  the  names  of  the  Federal  generals  com 
manding  forces  on  the  Southern  coast.  The  arrival,  he  said, 


BATTLE   OF  DRURY'S   BLUFF.  517 

11  My  first  question  on  meeting  him  was  to 
learn  why  the  intrenchments  were  abandoned. 
He  answered  that  he  thought  it  better  to  con 
centrate  his  troops.  Upon  my  stating  to  him 
that  there  was  nothing  then  to  prevent  Butler 
from  turning  his  position,  he  said  he  would 
desire  nothing  better,  as  he  would  then  fall 
upon  him,  cut  off  his  base,  etc. 

"  According  to  my  uniform  practice  never 
to  do  more  than  make  a  suggestion  to  a  gen 
eral  commanding  in  the  field,  the  subject  was 
pressed  no  further.  We  then  passed  to  the 
consideration  of  the  operations  to  be  under 
taken  against  Butler,  who  had  already  ad 
vanced  from  his  base  at  Bermuda  Hundreds. 
I  offered,  for  the  purpose  of  attacking  Butler, 
to  send  General  Ransom  with  the  field  force 
he  had  for  the  protection  of  Richmond.  He 

of  any  of  these  officers  in  Virginia  would  indicate  the  transfer  of 
their  troops  thither,  and  concluded  by  saying  that  if  it  were  desired 
he  should  operate  on  the  north  side  of  James  River,  maps  ought  to 
be  prepared  for  him,  and  timbers,  etc. ,  for  bridges  ;  and  that  he 
would  serve  with  pleasure  under  the  immediate  command  of  General 
Lee,  "  aiding  him  to  crush  our  enemies,  and  to  achieve  the  inde 
pendence  of  our  country." 

To-day  the  President  sent  it  back  endorsed  as  follows:  "Maps 
of  the  country,  with  such  additions  as  may  from  time  to  time  be 
made,  should  be  kept  on  hand  in  the  Engineer  Bureau,  and  furnished 
to  officers  in  the  field.  Preparations  of  material  for  bridges,  etc., 
will  continue  to  be  made  as  heretofore,  and  with  such  additional 
effort  as  circumstances  require. 

"I  did  not  doubt  the  readiness  of  General  Beauregard  to  serve  under 
any  general  who  ranks  him.  The  right  of  General  Lee  to  command 
would  be  derived  from  his  superior  rank.  "  JEFFERSON  DAVIS." 


5i8  JEFFERSON  DAVIS. 

reported  to  General  Beauregard  on  the  I5th, 
received  his  orders  for  the  battle,  which  was 
to  occur  the  next  day,  and  about  10  P.M.  was 
in  position  in  front  of  the  breastworks.  A 
regiment  of  cavalry,  not  under  Ransom's  or 
ders,  was  to  guard  the  space  between  his  left 
and  the  river,  to  give  him  information  of  any 
movement  in  that  quarter. 

General  Whiting,  with  some  force,  was  hold 
ing  a  defensive  position  at  Petersburg.  Gen 
eral  Beauregard  proposed  that  the  main  part 
of  it  should  advance  and  unite  with  him  in  an 
attack  upon  Butler,  wherever  he  should  be 
found  between  Dairy's  and  Petersburg.  To 
this  I  offered  distinct  objection,  because  of  the 
hazard,  during  a  battle,  of  attempting  to  make 
a  junction  of  troops  moving  from  opposite 
sides  of  the  enemy,  and  proposed  that  Whit 
ing's  command  should  move  at  night  by  the 
Chesterfield  road,  where  they  would  not  prob 
ably  be  observed  by  Butler's  advance.  This 
march  I  supposed  they  could  make  so  as  to 
arrive  at  Drury's  soon  after  daylight.  The 
next  day  being  Sunday,  they  could  rest,  and 
all  the  troops  being  assigned  to  their  positions, 
they  could  move  to  make  a  concerted  attack 
at  daylight  on  Monday. 

"  On  Monday  morning,  I  rode  down  to 
Drury's,  where  I  found  that  the  enemy  had 
seized  our  line  of  intrenchments,  it  being  un- 


BATTLE  oF  DRURY'^S  &LUFF.          519 

occupied,  and  that  a  severe  action  had  oc 
curred,  with  a  serious  loss  to  us,  before  he 
could  be  dislodged.  He  had  crossed  the  main 
road  to  the  west,  entering  a  dense  wood,  and 
our  troops  on  the  right  had  moved  out  and 
were  closely  engaged  with  him.  We  drove 
him  back,  frustrating  the  attempt  to  turn  the 
extreme  right  of  our  line.  The  day  was 
wearing  away,  a  part  of  the  force  had  been 
withdrawn  to  the  intrenchments,  and  there 
was  no  sign  of  purpose  to  make  any  immedi 
ate  movement.  General  Beauregard  said  he 
was  waiting  to  hear  Whiting's  guns,  and  had 
been  expecting  him  for  some  time  to  approach 
on  the  Petersburg  road.  Soon  after  this  the 
foe,  in  a  straggling,  disorganized  manner,  com 
menced  crossing  the  road,  moving  to  the  east, 
which  indicated  a  retreat,  perhaps  a  purpose 
to  turn  our  left  and  attack  Fort  Drury  in  rear. 
He  placed  a  battery  in  the  main  road  and 
threw  some  shells  at  our  intrenchments,  prob 
ably  to  cover  his  retiring  troops."  * 

One  of  the  enemy's  solid  shot  struck  at  the 
very  feet  of  President  Davis  as  he  stood  at 
the  edge  of  the  turnpike  in  conversation  with 
General  Beauregard.  They,  without  appa 
rently  noticing  the  "  close  call,"  stepped 
slowly  and  deliberately  out  of  range. 

*  Colonel  W.  Miller  Owen  :  In  Camp  and  Battle. 


520  JEFFERSON  DAVIS. 

The  enemy's  guns  soon  limbered  up  and 
moved  off,  and  Butler  was  in  full  retreat  to 
Bermuda  Hundreds. 

On  the  next  morning  our  troops  moved 
down  the  river  road  as  far  as  Hewlett's,  but 
saw  no  enemy. 

General  Beauregard,  President  Davis,  and 
his  aide,  Colonel  William  Preston  Johnston, 
were  standing  on  the  earthworks  listening 
intently.  Presently  a  single  gun  was  heard 
in  the  distance.  "  Ah  !  "  said  Mr.  Davis,  "  at 
last !  "  and  a  smile  of  satisfaction  stole  over 
his  face. 

But  that  solitary  gun  was  all,  and  Butler 
retreated  unmolested  to  his  lines  at  Bermuda 
Hundreds. 

"  Soon  after  the  affair  at  Drury's  Bluff, 
General  Beauregard  addressed  to  me  a  com 
munication,  proposing  that  he  should  be 
heavily  reinforced  from  General  Lee's  army, 
so  as  to  enable  him  to  crush  Butler  in  his  in- 
trenchments,  and  then,  with  the  main  body  of 
his  own  force,  together  with  the  detachment 
from  General  Lee's  army,  that  he  should  join 
General  Lee,  crush  Grant,  and  march  to 
Washington."  * 

The  following  is  the  communication  alluded 
to  above. 

*  Mr.  Davis,  in  Rise  and  Fall. 


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BATTLE   OF  DRURV^S  &LUFJ?.  521 

"CONFEDERATE  STATES,  HEADQUARTERS . DEPARTMENT 
"NORTH  AND  SOUTH  CAROLINA  AND  VIRGINIA, 
"HANCOCK  HOUSE,  May  18,  1864,  9.30  P.M. 

"  Memorandum  : 

"  The  crisis  demands  prompt  and  decisive 
action.  For  this,  the  two  armies  are  now  too 
far  apart,  unless  we  consent  to  give  up  Peters 
burg",  and  place  the  capital  in  jeopardy.  If 
General  Lee  will  fall  back  behind  the  Chicka- 
hominy,  engaging  the  enemy  so  as  to  draw 
him  on,  General  Beauregard  can  bring  up 
fifteen  thousand  men  to  unite  with  Brecken- 
ridge  and  fall  upon  the  enemy's  flank  with 
over  twenty  thousand  effectives — thus  ren 
dering  Grant's  defeat  certain  and  decisive  ; 
and  in  time  to  enable  General  Beauregard 
to  return,  with  a  reinforcement  from  General 
Lee,  to  drive  Butler  from  before  Petersburg, 
and  from  his  present  position.  For  three 
days,  perhaps  four,  Petersburg  and  Richmond 
can  be  held  by  the  forces  left  behind  ;  not 
longer. 

"  Without  such  concentration  nothing  de 
cisive  can  be  effected,  and  the  picture  pre 
sented  is  one  of  starvation.  Without  it  Gen 
eral  Lee  must  eventually  fall  back  before 
Grant's  heavy  reinforcements,  and  the  view 
presented  merely  anticipates  this  movement 
for  offensive  purposes.  Meantime  it  is  im 
possible  to  effectually  protect  our  lines  of 


522  jEFFERSOti  DAVIS. 

communication  with  North  Carolina ;  and  im 
possible  to  hold  our  present  line  in  front  of 
Butler  with  a  much  reduced  force.  At  pres 
ent  three  thousand  men  can  be  spared  with 
safety.  Day  after  to-morrow  two  thousand 
more,  perhaps,  as  our  lines  will  probably  be 
stronger,  if,  as  we  expect,  the  forward  line 
can  be  occupied  to-day. 

(Signed)    "  P.  T.  BEAUREGARD, 

"  General  Commanding." 

Endorsement  on  the  above  : 

"  GENERAL  BRAGG,  Commanding,  etc.,  etc. 

"  This  memorandum  was  handed  to  me 
this  day  by  Colonel  Melton,  A.  &  I.  Gen 
eral's  Department,  and  is  referred  to  you  for 
attention.  General  Lee  is  best  informed  of 
his  situation,  and  his  ability  is  too  well  estab 
lished  to  incline  me  to  adopt  the  opinion  of 
anyone  at  a  distance  as  to  the  movements 
which  his  army  should  make,  either  for  its 
preservation  or  the  protection  of  its  com 
munications. 

"  If  fifteen  thousand  men  can  be  spared  for 
the  flank  movement  proposed,  certainly  ten 
thousand  may  be  sent  to  reinforce  General 
Lee.  If  that  be  done  immediately \  General 
Lee's  correspondence  warrants  the  belief  that 
he  will  defeat  the  enemy  in  Northern  Virginia. 


$trt-QnrtM  %mn  of  %  fflnrttb  Stela, 


<^L*J  dCt^i.- ^7*\ 


<&Ce  4C~t  w   ^^/^^-  <*  *<• 

^e- 
6t    <4Zi~     e^n^^-f     e-y       S  7*^*+^-^ 


V?^^j  'Z^^i-t—.'^-f^f.  /&.  2* 
/i-  «v-^  ^—J  ^-**- s  ^if  t-^r**— 
J~C 


^^ 


BATTLE   OF  DRURY'S  BLUFF.  $2$ 

"  The  advantage  of  that  result  of  our  suc 
cess  against  a  besieging  army  around  Rich 
mond  is  obvious. 

(Signed)  "JEFFERSON  DAVIS." 

"May  19,  1864." 

Military  courtesy  required  that  the  memo 
randa  should  be  sent  to  General  Lee,  who, 
as  soon  as  its  purport  was  communicated  to 
him,  ordered  General  Beauregard  to  straight 
en  his  line,  so  as  to  reduce  the  number  of 
men  required  to  hold  it,  and  send  the  remain 
der  to  him. 


CHAPTER  LIV. 

THE  LACK  OF  FOOD  AND  THE  PRICES  IN  THE  CON- 
FEDERACY. 

To  those  who  insist  that  the  prisoners  from 
the  Northern  army  were  maliciously  starved, 
with  murderous  intent,  I  dedicate  the  follow 
ing  statistical  compilation  of  the  prices  of 
provisions  in  Richmond  and  other  places. 

Our  hapless  soldiers  starved  and  froze  in 
the  Northern  prisons  in  the  midst  of  plenty, 
but  the  benefit  release  would  have  been  to 
them  would  not  have  been  an  increase  in 
their  comfort  or  in  their  bill  of  fare ;  the  im 
provement  in  their  state  would  have  been  in 
duced  by  the  sunshine  and  freedom.  The 
sense  of  abject  want  would  have  been  less 
insupportable  in  a  community  of  depriva 
tion  and  suffering1  with  their  comrades,  as 
well  as  of  active  patriotic  effort  to  serve  the 
country. 

Some  quotations  are  taken  from  the  diaries 
of  private  individuals,  and  also  from  my  own 
domestic  experience. 

If,  after  reading  these  statistics,  my  readers 


CONFEDERATE  GENERALS. 


THE  LACK  OF  FOOD.  525 

will  weigh  the  facts  impartially,  our  vindica 
tion  will  be  complete.  Thousands  of  men 
were  quartered  upon  us,  at  Andersonville  and 
elsewhere,  for  whom  we  had  neither  food, 
clothes,  nor  medicine ;  the  supplies  in  the 
country  had  been  exhausted,  the  blockade 
prevented  manufactured  goods  or  medicines 
from  being  brought  in  to  replenish  our  stores. 
The  enemy  had  made  medicines  contraband 
of  war,  the  food  was  not  plentiful  enough  to 
feed  our  armies  in  the  field,  or  the  officers 
of  the  Government,  much  better  than  the 
prisoners  ;  and  the  United  States  Govern 
ment  would  not  carry  out  the  provisions  of 
the  cartel  for  fear  of  reinforcing  our  army 
by  the  return  of  the  prisoners  in  their  hands, 
and  their  prisoners  and  ours  died  of  want 
and  homesickness.  To  whom  belonged  the 
shame  and  the  inhumanity  of  the  needless 
sacrifice  ? 

In  July,  1862,  both  sections  issued  fractional 
notes  in  enormous  quantities,  and  at  first  there 
was  a  sense  of  relief,  and  they  fluttered  from 
hand  to  hand  "  like  leaves  in  wintry  weather  ; " 
but  gold  rose  in  New  York  to  ten  per  cent., 
and  in  Richmond  to  almost  any  per  cent,  the 
traders  charged.  By  July  I4th,  it  had  ad 
vanced  in  New  York  to  fifteen  per  cent. ; 
the  prices  of  provisions  in  the  Confederacy 
on  July  19,  1862,  were: 


526  JEFFERSON  DAVIS. 

Beef,  pork,  and  mutton,  37  J  cents  per 
pound  ;  shoat,  50  cents  per  pound  ;  chickens, 
57  cents  to  $i  apiece;  ducks,  $i  to  $1.50 
apiece;  goslings,  $2;  pullets,  $i  to  $1.50 
apiece  ;  eggs,  75  cents  to  $i  per  dozen  ;  but 
ter,  75  cents  to  $i  per  pound. 

Vegetables — beans,  50  cents  per  bunch  ; 
onions,  50  cents  per  quart  (or  one  shilling 
apiece  for  the  largest  size)  ;  cymlings,  $  i  per 
dozen;  cucumbers,  $i  per  dozen;  string 
beans,  $2  per  peck  ;  cabbage,  50  cents  to  75 
cents  per  head  ;  Irish  potatoes,  $6  per  bush 
el ;  tomatoes,  $[.50  per  dozen;  blackberries, 
25  cents  per  quart;  whortleberries,  35  cents 
per  quart  ;  plums,  50  cents  per  quart ; 
peaches,  $i  per  dozen. 

Prices  increased  steadily  for  all  varieties  of 
food,  as  the  supplies  decreased  and  the  value 
of  Confederate  money  declined. 

Ham  was,  on  July  23,  1862,  75  cents  per 
pound  ;  small  quarters  of  lamb  from  three  to 
four  dollars  each  ;  eggs,  $  i  per  dozen  ;  coffee, 
of  poor  quality,  $2.50  per  pound;  butter,  $i 
and  upward  per  pound  ;  tea,  $5  per  pound  ; 
boots,  $20  to  $25  per  pair ;  shoemakers' 
wages,  $5  per  diem. 

November,  1862 — coffee,  which  had  in  four 
months  nearly  doubled  in  price,  $4  a  pound  ; 
all  good  tea  from  $18  to  $20  a  pound; 
butter,  $1.50  to  $2  a  pound  ;  lard,  50  cents  ; 


THE  LACK  OF  FOOD.  527 

corn,  $15  per  barrel  ;  wheat,  $4.50  a  bushel ; 
muslin,  $6  to  $8  a  yard  ;  calico,  $1.75  a  yard  ; 
bleached  cotton,  $3.50  a  yard;  cotton,  50 
cents  a  spool ;  soap,  $i  a  pound. 

The  price  for  coffee  was  now  prohibitory  to 
those  who  were  not  speculators. 

The  Confederate  women  made  a  substi 
tute  for  coffee  out  of  parched  sweet  potatoes 
and  parched  corn,  and  also  of  the  grain  of 
rye ;  for  sugar  they  used  sorghum  syrup. 
They  wove  cotton  cloth  for  blankets,  and 
sewed  up  coverings  for  their  feet  out  of 
old  carpets,  or  rather  such  bits  as  were 
left  after  cutting  them  up  for  soldiers'  blank 
ets.  They  had  only  carpet  or  canvas  soles. 
Blankets  could  not  be  had,  and  Bishop 
Meade  sent  his  study  carpet  to  the  soldiers 
for  blankets.  One  gentleman  of  Halifax 
County,  in  1862,  sent  eight  to  be  cut  up  for 
the  same  purpose. 

"July — calico,  $2.50  a  yard  at  a  bargain, 
and  $3.50  and  $4  a  yard.  The  ladies  paid, 
on  January,  1863,  for  canvas  boots  made  of 
old  sails,  cut  out  by  the  shoemaker  but 
stitched  and  bound  by  the  ladies,  for  sew 
ing  on  the  soles,  $50.  Last  year  he  soled 
them  for  $10,  and  they  were  blacked  with 
gun  blacking."  Shoes,  $125  to  $150.  Ink 
was  made  of  elderberries ;  flour  cost  $300 
a  barrel. 


528  JEFFERSON  DAVIS. 

February  10,  1863. — General  Lee  wrote 
to  the  Secretary  of  War,  on  January  22d,  that 
his  army  was  not  fed  well  enough  to  fit  them 
for  the  exertions  of  the  spring  campaign, 
and  recommended  the  discontinuance  of  the 
rule  of  the  Commissary-General  allowing 
officers  at  Richmond,  Petersburg,  and  many 
other  towns,  to  purchase  government  meat, 
etc.,  for  the  subsistence  of  their  families,  at 
schedule  prices. 

This  letter  was  referred  to  the  Commis 
sary-General,  who,  after  the  usual  delay,  re 
turned  it  with  a  long  argument  to  show  that 
General  Lee  was  in  "  error,"  and  that  the 
practice  was  necessary,  etc. 

To  this  the  Secretary  responded  by  a 
peremptory  order,  restricting  the  city  officers 
in  the  item  of  meat. 

"Sugar  is  $20  per  pound;  new  bacon, 
$8;  and  chickens,  $12  per  pair.  Soon  we 
look  for  a  money  panic,  when  a  few  hundred 
millions  of  paper  money  is  funded,  and  as 
many  more  collected  by  the  tax  collectors. 
Congress  struck  the  speculators  a  hard  blow. 
One  man,  eager  to  invest  his  money,  gave 
$100,000  for  a  house  and  lot,  and  he  now 
pays  $5,000  tax  on  it ;  the  interest  is  $6,000 
more  ;  total  $  i  T,OOO." 

Here  is  a  notice  from  the  livery  stables  in 
1863; 


THE  LACK  OF  FOOD.  539 

"  Notice — Owing  to  the  heavy  advance  of 
feed,  we  are  compelled  to  charge  the  follow 
ing  rates  for  boarding  horses,  on  and  after  the 
first  of  March  : 

Board  per  month . . . .  . $300 

Board  per  day 15 

Single  feed. 5 

,  "  Virginia  Stables.       JAMES  C.  JOHNSON, 

W.  H.  SUTHERLAND, 
B.  W.  GREEN." 

The  family  of  the  President  had  no  perqui 
sites,  and  bought  their  provender  as  they  did 
their  provisions,  at  the  public  marts  and  at 
the  current  prices.  The  President  must  have 
horses  to  perform  his  duty  toward  the  army ; 
but,  after  disposing  of  everything  else  avail 
able,  Mr.  Davis  had  sold  every  horse  he 
could  spare ;  and  during  his  absence  in  the 
West,  I  sent  my  carriage  and  horses  to  be 
sold  by  a  dealer.  Some  gentlemen  of  Rich- 
mon4  heard  of  it  and  bought  the  horses,  and 
returned  them  to  me.  The  note  accompany 
ing  them  was  greatly  prized,  but  how  the 
horses,  which  of  course  could  not  be  again 
sold,  were  to  be  fed,  could  not  be  foreseen. 

Our  deprivations  were  far  less  than  those 
of  persons  not  holding  such  high  official  po 
sitions,  but  they  were  many.  A  notice  written 
by  General  R.  Ransom,  which  is  quoted  in 
another  part  of  this  volume,  gives  an  account 

VOL.  II.-34 


530  JEFFERSON  DAVIS. 

of  a  breakfast  at  the  Executive  mansion,  to  the 
meagreness  of  which  our  necessities,  not  my 
will,  consented. 

"  February  2ist. — I  saw  a  ham  sell  to-day 
for  $350 ;  it  weighed  fifty  pounds,  at  $7  per 
pound.  The  fear  is  now,  from  a  plethora  of 
paper  money,  we  shall  soon  be  without  a  suf 
ficiency  for  a  circulating  medium.  There  are 
$750,000,000  in  circulation,  and  the  tax  bills, 
etc.,  will  call  in,  it  is  estimated,  $800,000,000." 

"  February  22d. — The  offices  are  closed  to 
day,  in  honor  of  Washington's  birthday.  But 
it  is  a  fast  day  ;  meal  selling  for  $40  per 
bushel.  Money  will  not  be  so  abundant  a 
month  hence." 

"  To-day  bacon  is  selling  for  $6  per  pound, 
and  all  other  things  in  proportion.  A  negro 
(for  his  master)  asked  me  to-day  $40  for  an 
old,  tough  turkey  gobbler.  I  passed  on  very 
briskly." 

"  It  is  rumored  by  blockade-runners  that 
gold  in  the  North  is  selling  at  from  200  to 
500  per  cent,  premium.  If  this  be  true,  our 
day  of  deliverance  is  not  far  distant." 

.  "  February   18,  1864. — Sugar   has  risen  to 
'$10  and  $12  a  pound." 

"  February  2Oth. — The  price  of  turkey  to 
day  is  $60." 

"  March  i2th. — Flour  at  $300  per  barrel ; 
meal,  $50  per  bushel ;  and  even  fresh  fish  at 


THE  LACK  OF  FOOD. 


531 


$5  per  pound.     A  market-woman  asked  $5 
to-day  for  Haifa  pint  of  snap  beans  to  plant." 

"  Those  having  families  may  possibly  live 
on  their  salaries  ;  but  those  who  live  at  board 
ing-houses  cannot,  for  board  is  now  from  $200 
to  $300  a  month.  Relief  must  come  soon 
'from  some  quarter,  else  many  in  this  com- 
munity  will  famish." 

"  About  noon  to-day,  a  despatch  came  from 
Lieutenant-Colonel  Cole,  General  Lee's  prin 
cipal  commissary,  at  Orange  Court  House, 
dated  i2th  inst.,  saying  the  army  was  out  of 
meat,  and  had  but  one  day's  rations  of  bread." 

"March  i8th. — I  saw  adamantine  candles 
sell  at  auction  to-day  (box)  at  $ioper  pound  ; 
tallow,  $6.50.  Bacon  brought  $7.75  per 
pound  by  the  100  pounds." 

"  Flour  selling  in  Columbus,  Ga.,  75  cents 
a  pound,  from  wagons.  Flour  by  the  bushel, 
$5,  meal  $i,  in  1864." 

"  March  25th.— Flour,  $15  a  barrel." 

"  March  29th. — Great  crowds  are  funding 
their  Treasury  notes  to-day;  but  prices  of 
provisions  are  not  diminished.  White  beans, 
such  as  I  paid  $60  a  bushel  for  early  this 
month,  are  now  held  at  $75.  What  shall 
we  do  to  subsist  until  the  next  harvest  ?  " 

"April  i,  1864.— Tea,  $22  ;  coffee,  $12; 
brown  sugar,  $10;  flour,  $125  a  barrel; 
milk,  $4  a  quart." 


532  JEFFERSON  DA  VIS. 

Part  of  this  diary  is  taken  from  the  "  Diary 
of  a  Southern  Refugee." 

"  The  following  prices  are  now  paid  in  this 
city  :  boots,  $200;  coats,  $350  ;  pants,  $100  ; 
shoes,  $125;  flour,  $275  per  barrel;  meal, 
$60  to  $80  per  bushel ;  bacon,  $9  per  pound  ; 
no  beef  in  market ;  chickens,  $30  per  pair  ; 
shad,  $20;  potatoes,  $25  per  bushel;  turnip 
greens,  $4  per  peck ;  white  beans,  $4  per 
quart;  or  $120  per  bushel;  butter,  $15  per 
pound;  lard,  same;  wood,  $50  per  cord. 
What  a  change  a  decisive  victory — or  defeat 
— would  make  !  " 

"  April  7,  1864. — Sugar  was  $900  a  barrel ; 
bacon  and  lard  fell  to  $8.25  a  pound;  corn, 
$12  a  bushel ;  fodder,  $12  a  cwt.  Breakfast, 
$10." 

"  In  General  Lee's  tent  meat  was  eaten 
twice  a  week.  His  bill  of  fare  was  a  head  of 
cabbage  boiled  in  salt  water,  sweet  potatoes, 
and  a  pone  of  corn-bread  ;  when  he  invited  an 
officer  to  dinner,  he  had  to  his  astonishment 
four  inches  of  middling — everyone  refused 
from  politeness,  and  the  servant  excused  the 
smallness  of  the  piece  by  saying  it  was  bor 
rowed." 

"April  nth.  —  Potatoes  sell  at  $i  per 
quart;  chickens,  $35  per  pair;  turnip  greens, 
$4  per  peck,  An  ounce  of  meat  daily  is  the 
allowance  to  each  member  of  my  family,  the 


LACK  OF  FOOD.  $33 

cat  and  the  parrot  included.  The  pigeons  of 
my  neighbor  have  disappeared.  Every  day 
we  have  accounts  of  robberies,  the  preceding 
night,  of  cows,  pigs,  bacon,  flour;  and  even 
the  setting  hens  are  taken  from  their  nests." 

"On  July  21,  1864,  wheat  was  $30  a 
bushel." 

"July  2,  1864.  —  Tomatoes  about  the  size  of 
a  walnut  were  $20  a  dozen." 

"  Baby  shoes,  in  1864,,  cost  $20,  and  for  a 
fine  cotton  dress  —  what  is  now  known  as  a 
French  print  cotton  gown  —  unmade,  $45. 
Boys'  shoes,  $100  a  pair  in  the  spring  of 


"  February,  1865.  —  Gold,  60  for  one. 
Early  York  cabbage  seed,  $10  an  ounce  ;  230 
defeated  the  Senate  bill  to  put  200,000  negroes 
in  the  army.  Virginia  alone  for  specie  could 
feed  the  army." 

"  An  outbreak  of  the  prisoners  is  appre 
hended  ;  and  if  they  were  to  rise,  it  is  feared 
some  of  the  inhabitants  of  the  city  would  join 
them  ;  they  too  have  no  meat  —  many  of  them 
—  or  bread  either." 

If  a  frank  answer  could  be  elicited  from  the 
men  who  sincerely  believe  our  Government 
starved  the  prisoners  in  our  hands,  could  they, 
after  reading  these  extracts,  reaffirm  that 
opinion  ? 


534 


JEFFERSON  DAVIS. 


Travelling  Expenses  of  an  Officer  of  Artillery  en  route  from  Rich 
mond,   Va.,  to  Augusta,  Ga.,  March  and  April,  1865.* 


March 

Tl 

th. 

$20  oo 

« 

T" 

th, 

60  oo 

<  < 

T 

>th, 

Hair-cutting  and  shave                

10  oo 

« 

-•  1 

«-- 

Pair  of  eye-glasses  

I-3C     OO 

« 

.1 

< 

Candles  

so  oo 

« 

0' 

i 

2,700  oo 

« 

0" 

th 

One  gallon  whiskey  

400  oo 

(4 

T 

nli 

One  pair  of  pants  

700  oo 

« 

< 

450  oo 

April 

y 

th 

Six  yards  of  linen          ....            . 

I  2OO   OO 

it 

T^ 

th 

One  ounce  sul    quinine  

1,700  oo 

« 

Two  weeks'  board  

700  oo 

«( 

Bought  $60,  gold  

6,000  oo 

« 

? 

th, 

900  oo 

<  < 

Shad  and  sundries     .... 

7^   OO 

« 

2C   OO 

l< 

12  1;  oo 

« 

so  oo 

Prices  on  Bill  of  Fare  at  the  Oriental  Restaurant,   Richmond^ 
January  17,  1864. 


Soup,  per  plate  

$i  so 

Wines,  per  Bottle. 

Turkey,  per  plate  

3  5° 

$So  OO 

Chicken,  per  plate  

3  5° 

Madeira 

CQ    OO 

Rock  fish,  per  plate  .... 

5  oo 

Port  

2C    OO 

Roast  beef,  per  plate.  .  .  , 

3  °° 

Claret             

20  oo 

Beefsteak,  per  dish  

3  50 

Sherry  

7^    OO 

Ham  and  eggs  

1  so 

2   OO 

Liquors,  per  Drink. 

Fried  oysters           . 

SOO 

French  brandv  

3  oo 

Raw  oysters 

3OO 

Rye  whiskey  

2   00 

Cabbage 

v->w 

I    OO 

2   OO 

Potatoes  

I    OO 

Pure  coffee,  per  cup  
Pure  tea,  per  cup  

3  oo 

2  00 

tie. 
Porter 

12   OO 

Fresh  milk  

2   OO 

Ale 

12   OO 

I    SO 

Ale   one  half  bottle 

6  oo 

Cigars. 

I   OO 

Game  of  all  kinds  in  season. 
Terrapins  served  up  in  every  style. 


*  Colonel  Miller  Owen  :  In  Camp  and  Battle  with  the  Washing- 
ton  Artillery. 


THE  LACK  OF  FOOD. 


535 


Bill  for  a  Dinner  for  Nine  Poor  Confederates  at  the  "  Oriental" 
January  17,  1864. 


Soup  for  nine          .... 

$13  5° 
3'  5° 
9  oo 
24  oo 
9  oo 

T3    50 

14  oo 
18  oo 

$132  50 

12   OO 

250  oo 

I2O  OO 

65  oo 

20  00 
2O  OO 
12   OO 

Venison  steak      

5  bottles  of  Madeira.  . 
6  bottles  of  clai-et  
I  Urn  cocktail  

Celery                       .  .    . 

Telly 

Bread  and  butter  
Coffee  

J'  r,  \y  

Cake  

I  dozen  cigars  

$132  50 

$631    50 

Approximate  Value  of  Gold  and  Confederate  Currency  from  Jan* 
uary  I,  1862,  to  April  12,  1865. 


Date. 

Gold. 

Currency. 

$IOO 

$I2O 

December  20    1862      

IOO 

loo 

December  20,  1863     

IOO 

1,700 

IOO 

1,  800 

December  20,  1864  

IOO 

2,800 

January  I    1865      ...                   .  .              . 

IOO 

7,400 

IOO 

c,ooo 

March  I,  1865  

IOO 

4,700 

April  10,  i86c  .  . 

IOO 

cxoo 

CHAPTER   LV. 

EXCHANGE   OF   PRISONERS    AND  ANDERSONVILLE. 

THE  cause  of  all  the  sufferings  of  the  men 
of  the  South  who  starved  and  froze  on  John 
son's  Island  and  at  Point  Lookout,  and  those 
of  the  North  who  succumbed  to  the  heat  and 
exposure  at  Andersonville,  and  died  for  lack 
of  proper  medicines  (made  contraband  by 
their  own  Government),  was  the  violation  of 
the  cartel  for  the  exchange  of  prisoners  by  the 
civil  and  military  authorities  of  the  United 
States  Government. 

The  reasons  for  this  violation  are  obvious. 

The  South,  hemmed  in  on  the  land  by  a 
cordon  of  bayonets,  and  on  the  sea-coast  by 
the  enemy's  fleet,  had  only  the  male  popula 
tion  within  its  borders  from  which  to  recruit 
its  armies  ;  while  the  North,  with  the  ports  of 
the  world  open  to  her,  could  replace  the  im 
mense  losses  incurred  in  battle  and  by  cap 
ture,  and  find  ample  "food  for  powder"  in 
every  country  and  among  all  peoples  ;  so 
their  armies  were  easily  augmented  by  large 
enlistments  of  foreigners  and  negro  slaves 
captured  in  the  South. 


OP  PRISONERS.  $# 

With  this  bountiful  supply  of  material  it 
seemed  to  matter  little  to  her  if  a  few  thou 
sands  of  such  rank  and  file  were,  in  violation 
of  the  cartel,  detained  in  Southern  "  prison 
pens."  The  majority  of  these  mercenaries 
had  not  even  a  common  language  in  which  to 
communicate  their  woes  to  the  people  •  for 
whom  they  were  paid  to  fight  or  die. 

It  is  undeniable  that  in  the  "  pens  "  were 
many  brave  and  patriotic  men,  who,  imbued 
with  the  same  devoted  spirit  that  animated  the 
people  of  the  South,  had  been  captured  in  the 
front  line  of  battle  bravely  doing  their  duty  ; 
but  there  were  very  many  more  of  the  kind 
of  soldiers  described  by  General  Barlow  in 
the  New  York  World  of  August  nth.  When 
he  was  borne  off  the  field  of  Antietam  badly 
wounded,  he  saw:  "Stragglers  who  were 
amusing  themselves  in  the  rear  of  the  troops 
who  were  fighting  in  the  front.  The  country 
in  the  rear  was  filled  with  soldiers  broken  up 
and  scattered  from  their  commands,  who  were 
having  '  picnics/  They  were  lying  under  trees, 
sleeping,  cooking  their  coffee  or  other  rations, 
and  amusing  themselves  outside  of  the  ene 
my's  fire.  This  was  by  no  means  confined 
to  the  enlisted  men,  but  I  saw  officers  of  var 
ious  ranks,  and  men  of  high  rank  and  of  dif 
ferent  corps  and  divisions,  who  had  thus  de 
serted  their  commands  at  the  front" 


5s3  JEFFERSON  DAVIS. 

Dr.  Mann,  in  the  August  Century,  said  in 
reference  to  the  inmates  of  Andersonville  : 

"  All  classes  and  grades  of  society  were 
represented  within  our  prison.  .  .  .  Ne 
gro  soldiers ;  Bowery  roughs •,  the  worst  class 
of  all ;  mechanics,  farmers,  gamblers,  etc. 
>  .  .  .  Until  about  August  ist,  there  was 
absolutely  no  check  to  rascality  of  any  kind, 
except  our  own  individual  physical  strength 
f  .  ,  *  v  a  class  of 'skulkers  and  gamblers,  from 
both  the  Eastern  and  Western  armies,  capt 
ured  in  the  rear  by  the  rebel  raiders. 

"  An  organized  band  of  over  two  hundred 
members,  selected  from  the  most  unprincipled 
and  healthier  prisoners,  bound  together  by 
oaths,  and  armed  with  short,  heavy  clubs, 
overran  the  prison  pen.  They  committed 
their  depredations  every  night,  and  became  a 
terror  to  us  all.  They  finally  grew  so  bold 
as  to  knock  down  and  rob  men  during  the 
day.  The  gang  was  known  as  the  '  Raid 
ers.'  They  had  everything  their  own  way 
for  nearly  three  months,  when  it  was  discov 
ered  that  several  of  our  number  had  been  mur 
dered  by  them."  A  court  composed  of  the 
prisoners  themselves  was  organized,  and  "  six 
of  their  number  (Raiders)  were  found  guilty 
of  murder  in  the  first  degree  and  sentenced 
to  be  hung."  They  were  .executed  by  the 
prisoners,  and  "  Wirz  furnished  material  for  a 


EXCHANGE   OF  PRl$Otf£&&  539 

scaffold."  An  assemblage  of  this  class  of  men 
in  a  State  would  destroy  the  welfare  of  the 
community,  and  render  a  bloody  penal  code  a 
dreadful  necessity.  How  great  would  be  the 
misery  of  being  cooped  up  with  them  under 
restrictions  needful  for  their  secure  detention  ! 

Keenly  alive  to  the  misery  of  friend  or  foe, 
and  painfully  anxious  to  assuage  it,  on  July  6, 
1 86 1,  hearing  of  the  capture  of  the  schooner 
Savannah  with  her  crew,  sailing  under  Con 
federate  orders,  and  that  they  had  been  put  in 
irons  and  brought  before  the  courts  on  charge 
of  treason,  President  Davis  wrote  to  Presi 
dent  Lincoln  : 

"  It  is  the  desire  of  the  Government  so  to 
conduct  the  war  now  existing  as  to  mitigate 
its  horrors  as  far  as  may  be  possible,  and  with 
this  intent,  its  treatment  of  the  prisoners  cap 
tured  by  its  forces  has  been  marked  by  the 
greatest  humanity  and  leniency  consistent 
with  public  obligation.  Some  returned  home 
on  parole,  others  remained  at  large  under 
similar  conditions  within  the  Confederacy, 
and  all  were  furnished  with  rations  for  their 
subsistence,  such  as  are  allowed  to  our  own 
troops.  It  was  only  after  the  severities  to 
the  prisoners  taken  on  the  Savannah  that 
these  indulgences  were  withdrawn  and  the 
prisoners  were  held  in  strict  confinement. 

"  A  just  regard  to  humanity  and  the  honor 


546 

of  this  Government,  now  requires  me  to  state 
explicitly  that,  painful  as  will  be  the  necessity, 
this  Government  will  deal  out  to  the  prison 
ers  held  by  it  the  same  treatment  and  the 
same  fate  as  shall  be  experienced  by  those 
captured  on  the  Savannah,  and  if  driven  to 
the  terrible  necessity  of  retaliation  by  your 
execution  of  any  of  the  officers  or  crew  of  the 
Savannah,  that  retaliation  will  be  extended 
so  far  as  shall  be  requisite  to  secure  the  aban 
donment  of  a  practice  unknown  to  the  war 
fare  of  a  civilized  man,  and  so  barbarous  as 
to  disgrace  the  nation  which  shall  be  guilty  of 
encouraging  it." 

On  July  20,  1862,  the  President,  in  secret 
session,  recommended  to  Congress  that  all 
our  prisoners  who  had  been  put  on  parole  by 
the  United  States  Government  be  released 
from  the  obligation  of  their  parole.  The 
recommendation  was  urged  as  a  retaliation 
for  the  reckless  breach  of  good  faith  on  the 
part  of  the  Northern  Government  with  regard 
to  the  exchange  of  prisoners,  and  was  accom 
panied  by  the  exposure  of  this  perfidy  in  a 
lengthy  correspondence  conducted  by  the 
War  Department.  The  points  of  this  inter 
esting  correspondence  are  here  extracted. 

"  At  the  time  permission  was  asked  by  the 
Northern  Government  for  Messrs.  Fish  and 
Ames  to  visit  their  prisoners  in  the  South,  our 


EXCHANGE   OF  PRISONERS,  541 

Government,  while  denying  this  permission, 
sought  to  improve  the  opportunity  by  concert 
ing  a  settled  plan  for  the  exchange  of  prison 
ers.  To  execute  this  purpose  our  Govern 
ment  deputed  Messrs.  Conrad  and  Seddon  as 
commissioners  to  meet  those  of  the  Northern 
Government  under  a  flag  of  truce  at  Norfolk. 
Subsequently,  a  letter  from  General  Wool 
informed  General  Huger  that  he,  General 
Wool,  had  full  authority  to  settle  terms  for 
the  exchange  of  prisoners,  and  asked  an 
interview  on  the  subject.  General  Howell 
Cobb  was  then  appointed  by  the  Government 
to  negotiate  with  General  Wool,  and  to  set 
tle  a  permanent  plan  for  the  exchange  of  pris 
oners  during  the  war.  The  adjustment  was 
then  considered  to  have  been  satisfactorily 
made. 

"  It  was  agreed  that  the  prisoners  of  war  in 
the  hands  of  each  Government  should  be  ex 
changed,  man  for  man,  the  officers  being  as 
similated  as  to  rank,  etc. ;  that  our  privateers- 
men  should  be  exchanged  on  the  footing  of 
prisoners  of  war  ;  that  any  surplus  remaining 
on  either  side  after  these  exchanges,  should 
be  released,  and  that  hereafter,  during  the 
whole  continuance  of  the  war,  prisoners  taken 
on  either  side  should  be  paroled.  In  carry 
ing  out  this  agreement,  our  Government  has 
released  some  three  hundred  prisoners  above 


542  JEFFERSON  DAVIS. 

those  exchanged  by  the  North,  the  balance 
of  the  complete  number  of  prisoners  in  the 
hands  of  the  two  Governments  being  so  much 
in  our  favor.  At  the  time,  however,  of  send 
ing  North  the  hostages  we  had  retained  for 
our  privateersmen,  General  Cobb  had  rea 
son  to  suspect  the  good  faith  of  the  Northern 
Government,  and  telegraphed  in  time  to  in 
tercept  the  release  of  a  portion  of  these  hos 
tages  (among  them  Colonel  Corcoran)  who 
were  en  route  from  points  farther  south  than 
Richmond,  to  go  North  under  the  flag  of 
truce  at  Norfolk.  A  number  of  these  hosta 
ges,  however,  had  already  been  discharged. 

"  It  now  appears  that,  in  contravention  to 
the  solemn  agreement  of  the  Northern  Gov 
ernment,  not  one  of  our  privateersmen  have 
been  released,  and  the  Fort  Donelson  pris 
oners,  instead  of  being  paroled,  have  been 
taken  into  the  interior,  where  they  are  still 
confined. 

"  As  a  judgment  upon  this  open  and  shame 
less  perfidy  of  the  North,  it  is  proposed  that 
our  prisoners  who  have  been  paroled  by  the 
United  States  Government  shall  be  released 
from  their  obligations.  There  is  as  little 
doubt  of  the  honor  of  such  a  proposition,  as 
there  is  of  its  justness  as  a  retaliatory  meas 
ure  for  an  act  of  flagrant  perfidy/' 

In  pursuance  of  this  view,  the   President 


EXCHANGE   OF  PRISONERS.  543 

wrote  substantially  the  following  letter  to 
General  Lee. 

"RICHMOND,  VA.,  July  31,  1862. 

"  On  the  23d  of  this  month  a  cartel  for  a 
general  exchange  of  prisoners  was  signed  be 
tween  Major- General  D.  H.  Hill,  in  behalf  of 
the  Confederate  States,  and  Major- General 
John  A.  Dix,  in  behalf  of  the  United  States. 
By  the  terms  it  is  stipulated  that  all  prisoners 
of  war  hereafter  taken  shall  be  discharged 
on  parole  till  exchanged.  Scarcely  had  the 
cartel  been  signed,  when  the  military  author 
ities  of  the  United  States  changed  the  char- 

o 

acter  of  the  war  from  that  of  civilized  nations 
into  a  campaign  of  indiscriminate  robbery  and 
murder.  The  general  order  issued  by  the 
United  States  Secretary  of  War  in  Washing 
ton,  on  the  very  day  that  the  cartel  was  signed 
in  Virginia,  directs  the  United  States  com 
manders  to  take  the  private  property  of  our 
people  for  the  convenience  and  use  of  their 
armies,  without  compensation. 

"  The  General  Order  issued  by  Major- 
General  Pope,  on  the  day  after  the  cartel  was 
signed,  directs  the  murder  of  our  peaceful 
inhabitants  as  spies  if  found  quietly  tilling  the 
farms  in  the  rear,  even  outside  of  his  lines  / 
and  Brigadier-General  Steinwehr  has  seized 
upon  peaceful  inhabitants  to  be  held  as  hos 
tages,  that  they  may  be  murdered  in  cold 


544  JEFFERSON  DA  VIS. 

blood  if  any  of  his  soldiers  are  killed  by  some 
unknown  persons  whom  he  designates  as 
1  bush-whackers.' 

"  Under  this  state  of  facts  Mr.  Davis  issued 
a  General  Order,  recognizing  General  Pope 
and  his  commissioned  officers  to  be  robbers 
and  murderers,  and  not  public  enemies,  en 
titled,  if  captured,  to  be  considered  prisoners 
of  war.  We  are  driven  by  the  enemy  to  a 
course  we  abhor,  and  have  vainly  struggled 
to  avoid. 

"  For  the  present  we  shall  not  retaliate  on 
the  innocent,  and  shall  treat  the  enlisted  sol 
diers  of  General  Pope's  army  as  prisoners  of 
war ;  but  if  these  savage  practices  are  con 
tinued  after  notice  to  the  Government  at 
Washington,  we  shall  reluctantly  accept  the 
war  on  the  terms  chosen  by  our  foes,  until  the 
outraged  voice  of  a  common  humanity  forces 
a  respect  for  the  recognized  rules  of  war. 

"  We  have  consented  to  liberate  an  excess 
of  thousands  of  prisoners  held  by  us  beyond 
the  number  held  by  the  enemy,  but  would  be 
justified,  by  the  facts,  in  refusing  to  execute 
the  generous  cartel ;  yet  we  shrink  from  the 
mere  semblance  of  breaking  faith,  and  do  not 
resort  to  this  extremity. 

"  The  punishment  merited  alone  by  Gen 
eral  Pope  and  such  commissioned  officers  as 
choose  to  participate  in  the  execution  of  his 


EXCHANGE   OF  PRISONERS.  545 

infamous  orders,  will  not  be  visited  on  other 
forces  of  the  United  States. 

"  Communicate  this  decision  to  the  Com 
mander-in-chief  of  the  armies  of  the  United 
States,  and  a  copy  of  the  enclosed  general 
order. 

if  JEFFERSON  DAVIS. 
"  To  GENERAL  R.  E.  LEE,  Commanding,  etc." 

On  July  4,  1863,  the  day  after  the  battle  of 
Gettysburg,  General  Lee,  having  taken  6,000 
prisoners,  wished  to  parole  them  on  the  spot, 
and  2,000  were  released  on  parole,  not  to 
serve  until  properly  exchanged.  It  was  only 
after  their  release  that  the  Federal  Com 
mander  informed  him  that  no  exchanges 
would  -be  made  and  no  paroles  respected. 
Therefore  4,000  Federal  prisoners  unneces 
sarily  suffered  the  hardship  of  a  march,  under 
guard,  from  Gettysburg  to  Richmond.  The 
following  is  General  Meade's  telegram  to  his 
superior  officer  : 

"GETTYSBURG,  July 4,  1863,  IOP.M. 

"  MAJOR-GENERAL  HALLECK  : 

" .  .  .  A  proposition  made  by  General 
Lee  under  flag  of  truce,  to  exchange  prison 
ers,  was  declined  by  me. 

"  GEORGE  G.  MEADE, 
"  Major-General"  * 

*  Rebellion  Records,  vol.  xxvii, 
VOL.  II. -35 


546  JEFFERSON  DAVIS. 

His  action  was  confirmed  by  his  Govern 
ment. 

On  October  i,  1864,  when  the  number  of 
prisoners  was  large  on  both  sides,  General 
Lee  wrote  to  General  Grant  substantially  as 
follows : 

"  To  alleviate  the  sufferings  of  our  soldiers, 
I  propose  the  exchange  of  prisoners  of  war 
taken  by  the  armies  operating  in  Virginia, 
man  for  man,  or  upon  the  basis  established 
by  the  cartel." 

On  the  next  day  General  Grant  replied  : 

"  I  could  not  of  right  accept  your  proposi 
tion  further  than  to  exchange  prisoners  cap 
tured  within  the  last  three  days,  and  who  have 
not  yet  been  delivered  to  the  commanding 
general  of  prisoners. 

"  Among  those  lost  by  the  armies  operat 
ing  against  Richmond  were  a  number  of  col 
ored  troops.  Before  further  negotiations  can 
be  had  upon  the  subject,  I  would  ask  if  you 
propose  delivering  these  men  the  same  as 
white  soldiers." 

General  Lee  said  in  rejoinder:  "Deserters 
from  our  service,  and  negroes  belonging  to 
our  citizens,  are  not  considered  subjects  of 
exchange." 

On  October  2Oth,  General  Grant  finally 
answered  : 

"  I  regard  it  my  duty  to  protect  all  persons 


EXCHANGE   OF  PRISONERS.  547 

received  into  the  army  of  the  United  States, 
regardless  of  color  or  nationality ;  when  ac 
knowledged  soldiers  of  the  Government  are 
captured,  they  must  be  treated  as  prisoners 
of  war,  or  such  treatment  as  they  receive  in 
flicted  upon  an  equal  number  of  prisoners 
held  by  us." 

In  a  despatch  from  General  Grant  to  Gen 
eral  Butler,  August  18,  1864,  the  former  had 
said  : 

"  It  is  hard  on  our  men  held  in  Southern 
prisons  not  to  exchange  them,  but  it  is  hu 
manity  to  those  left  in  the  ranks  to  fight  oiir 
battles.  At  this  particular  time,  to  release  all 
rebel  prisoners  North,  would  insure  Sher 
man  s  defeat,  and  would  compromise  our 
safety  here" 

Later,  two  more  proposals  were  made  to 
the  Federal  authorities,  but  no  answers  were 
received  to  either  of  the  letters  ;  but  General 
Sherman  wrote  from  Atlanta,  on  September 
29,  1864,  to  General  Hood  at  Palmetto,  ac 
knowledged  the  receipt  of  General  Hood's 
letter  of  September  27th,  and  very  consider 
ately  promised  to  send  to  St.  Louis  for  sup 
plies  of  combs,  scissors,  etc.,  and  to  send  a  train  - 
with  these  articles  for  the  use  of  the  United 
States  prisoners  of  war  held  by  Hood. 

And  again,  Major-General  Thomas,  com 
manding  Department  of  the  Cumberland, 


548  JEFFERSON  DAVIS. 

on  December  5,  1864,  wrote  to  General  Hood, 
acknowledged  the  receipt  of  General  Hood's 
letter  of  same  date,  proposing  the  exchange  of 
prisoners,  and  declined.  General  Thomas's 
assigned  reason  was  :  "  Although  I  have  had 
quite  a  large  number  of  prisoners  from  your 
army,  they  have  all  been  sent  back  North, 
and  are  consequently  now  beyond  my  con 
trol  ;  I  am  therefore  unable  to  make  the  ex 
change  proposed  by  you." 

"  Finding,"  wrote  Mr.  Davis,  "  that  ex 
changes  could  not  be  made,  we  offered  their 
sick  and  wounded  without  any  equivalents. 
Although  the  offer  was  made  in  the  summer, 
the  transportation  did  not  arrive  until  Novem 
ber,  and  the  most  emaciated  of  the  poor  pris 
oners  were  then  photographed  and  exhibited 
'  to  fire  the  Northern  heart.'  " 

One  final  effort  was  made  to  obtain  an  ex 
change.  Mr.  Davis  sent  a  delegation  from 
the  prisoners  at  Andersonville  to  plead  their 
cause  at  Washington.  It  was  of  no  avail. 
They  were  refused  an  audience  with  Presi 
dent  Lincoln,  and  returned  to  tell  their  fellow- 
prisoners  there  was  no  hope  of  relief. 

In  the  official  report  of  General  B.  F.  But 
ler,  he  said  : 

"  General  Grant  visited  Fortress  Monroe 
on  April  i,  1864.  To  him  the  state  of  the 
negotiation  as  to  exchange  (Mr,  Davis's  prop- 


EXCHANGE   OF  PRISONERS.  549 

osition  to  exchange  all  white  and  free  black 
soldiers,  leaving  the  question  as  to  slaves  to 
be  disposed  of  later)  was  verbally  communi 
cated,  and  most  emphatic  directions  were  re 
ceived  from  the  Lieutenant-General,  not  to 
take  any  step  by  which  another  able-bodied 
man  should  be  exchanged  until  further  orders 
from  him. 

"  After  conversation  with  General  Grant  in 
reply  to  the  proposition  of  Mr.  Ould  to  ex 
change  all  prisoners  of  war  on  either  side 
held,  man  for  man,  officer  for  officer,  I  wrote 
an  argument  showing  our  right  to  our  colored 
soldiers. 

"  This  argument  set  forth  our  claims  in  the 
most  offensive  form  possible^  consistent  with 
ordinary  courtesy  of  language,  for  the  pur 
pose  of  carrying  out  the  wishes  of  the  Lieu 
tenant-General,  that  no  prisoners  should  be  ex 
changed" 

Mr.  Davis,  a  short  time  before  his  death, 
wrote  a  full  account  of  the  Andersonville 
Prison,  the  condition  of  affairs  therein,  and 
the  causes  of  the  mortality.  This  was  pub 
lished  in  Belford's  Magazine  for  January  and 
February,  1890.* 

It  should  be  a  complete  vindication  of  the 
Confederate  authorities  before  all  fair-minded 
men. 

*  And  afterward  in  pamphlet  form. 


550  JEFFERSON  DAVIS. 

That  the  policy  of  humanity  to  prisoners 
was  the  fixed  purpose  of  the  Confederate 
Government,  is  evidenced  by  the  treatment 
accorded  to  them  as  long  as  our  necessities 
enabled  us  to  minister  to  their  comfort.  In 
the  second  year  of  the  war  the  Herald's  cor 
respondent  wrote  from  Harrison's  Landing, 
July  22,  1862  :  "  Several  surgeons,  left  behind 
in  care  of  our  sick  and  wounded  men  in  the 
hospitals,  have  arrived  here,  and  report  quite 
favorably  their  treatment  by  the  Rebels. 

"  .  %,-j .,..;,  Father  Hagan,  Chaplain  of  the 
Excelsior  Regiment,  Sickles's  brigade,  visited 
the  hospitals  and  found  our  wounded  men  re 
ceiving  the  same  attention  as  their  own.  All 
the  sick  in  Richmond — our  prisoners  with  the 
others — are  suffering  from  scarcity  of  medi 
cines,  and  the  Confederates  complain  bitterly 
of  the  action  of  our  Government  in  declaring 
medicines  contraband  of  war.  Quinine  is 
worth  sixty  dollars  an  ounce  in  Richmond,  in 
New  York  five  dollars  or  less." 

Who,  then,  took  the  initiative  ?  Did  not 
the  North  do  so  in  making  quinine  contraband 
of  war  ?  Was  it  not  better  that  twenty  so- 
called  "  traitors  and  rebels  "  should  live  than 
one  Northern  so-called  "  patriot  "  should  be 
worn  out  on  a  bed  of  anguish  for  the  lack  of 
the  drug  needful  to  his  recovery? 

The    frantic  appeals  made  by  the  Exam- 


EXCHANGE   OF  PRISONERS.  551 

iner-  of  Richmond,  to  "hoist  the  black  flag," 
"retaliate  on  the  Yankee  prisoners  for  the 
starvation  and  abuse  of  our  prisoners  while  in  a 
land  teeming  with  plenty,"  inflamed  many  true 
men  against  the  President,  because  he  would 
not  adopt  that  course ;  but  throughout  the 
weary  years  of  .these  pin-pricks,  which  an 
noyed  and  galled  him  greatly,  he  never  re 
laxed  his  determined  stand  against  this  das 
tardly  retributory  policy.  He  answered  hotly 
to  a  member  of  Congress  who  was  a  pervert 
to  the  Examiner 's  views,  "  I  would  not  fight 
with  a  rope  around  my  neck,  and  I  will  not 
ask  brave  men  to  do  so.  As  to  the  torture  of 
prisoners,  I  can  resign  my  office  at  the  call 
of  the  country,  but  no  people  have  the  right 
to  demand  such  a  deed  at  my  hands."  The 
Examiner  was  ably  edited,  and  ingenious  in 
ways  and  means  to  make  the  President  odi 
ous — but  was  unable  at  least  to  engraft  an  ig 
noble  policy  upon  that  of  the  Administration. 
Mr.  Davis,  under  date  of  February  12, 
1876,  wrote  to  his  friend,  General  Crafts  I. 
Wright  as  follows  : 

o 

"  It  would  be  impossible,  to  frame  an  accu 
sation  against  me  more  absolutely  and  unqual 
ifiedly  false,  than  that  which  imputes  to  me 
cruelty  to  prisoners.  A  Richmond  paper, 
during  the  war,  habitually  assailed  me  for 
undue  clemency  and  care  for  them  ;  and  that 


552  JEFFERSON  DAVIS. 

misnamed  '  historian/  Pollard,  in  a  book 
written  after  the  war,  accused  me  of  having 
favored  prisoners,  in  the  hope  that  it  might,  in 
the  event  of  our  failure,  serve  to  shield  me." 

The  Confederate  President,  in  a  message  of 
May  2,  1864,  said:  "  On  the  subject  of  the 
exchange  of  prisoners,  I  greatly  regret  to  be 
unable  to  give  you  satisfactory  information. 
The  Government  of  the  United  States,  while 
persisting  in  failure  to  execute  the  terms  of  the 
cartel,  make  occasional  deliveries  of  prison 
ers,  and  then  suspend  action  without  appar 
ent  cause.  I  confess  my  inability  to  compre 
hend  their  policy  or  purpose.  The  prisoners 
held  by  us,  in  spite  of  human  care,  are  perish 
ing  from  the  inevitable  effects  of  imprisonment 
and  the  home-sickness  produced  by  their  hope 
lessness  of  release  from  confinement.  The 
spectacle  of  their  suffering  augments  our  de 
sire  to  relieve  from  similar  trials  our  own 
brave  men,  who  have  spent  so  many  weary 
months  in  a  cruel  and  useless  imprisonment, 
endured  with  heroic  constancy." 

From  a  message  delivered  in  1865  to  the 
Confederate  Congress,  I  make  the  following 
extracts  : 

"  I  regret  to  inform  you  that  the  enemy 
have  returned  to  the  barbarous  policy  with 
which  they  inaugurated  the  war,  and  that  the 
exchange  of  prisoners  has  been  for  some  time 


EXCHANGE   OF  PRISONERS.  553 

suspended.  The  conduct  of  the  authorities 
of  the  United  States  has  been  consistently 
perfidious  on  this  subject." 

When  the  United  States  had  an  excess  of 
prisoners  the  agreement  to  exchange  was 
repudiated  by  them,  until  the  fortune  of  war 
gave  us  the  largest  number.  A  new  cartel 
was  made,  and  for  many  months  we  restored 
many  thousands  of  prisoners  in  excess  of  those 
whom  they  held  for  exchange,  and  encamp 
ments  of  the  surplus  paroled  prisoners,  de 
livered  by  us,  were  established  in  the  United 
States,  where  the  men  held  constant  com 
munication  with  their  homes. 

"  The  prisoners  taken  at  Gettysburg,  how 
ever,  remained  in  their  hands,  and  should 
have  been  returned  to  our  lines  on  parole,  to 
await  exchange."  Instead  of  executing  an 
exchange,  pretexts  were  sought  for  keeping 
the  Confederates  in  captivity.  New  construc 
tions  of  an  agreement  which  had  not  been 
disputed  were  promulgated,  while  we  re 
tained  the  advantage  in  the  number  of  pris 
oners. 

The  enemy  declared  invalid  the  paroles  of 
the  prisoners  captured  by  us,  liberated  on 
promise  not  to  serve  until  exchanged,  and 
those  our  soldiers  gave  under  similar  cir 
cumstances,  as  binding. 

Their  final  proposal  was  to  settle  all  dis- 


554  JEFFERSON  DAVIS. 

putes  under  the  cartel,  that  we  should  liberate 
all  prisoners  held  by  us,  without  the  promise 
to  release  any  of  those  held  by  them. 

"  A  systematic  effort  was  made  to  quiet  the 
relatives  and  friends  of  the  prisoners  in  our 
hands,  by  the  assertion  that  we  were  the 
parties  who  refused  the  cartel. 

"  The  fact  was  that  the  rations  of  the  pris 
oners  were  precisely  the  same,  in  quantity 
and  quality,  as  those  served  out  to  our  own 
gallant  soldiers  in  the  field,*  and  which  had 
supported  them  in  their  arduous  campaigns. 
The  enemy  did  not  pretend  that  they  treated 
prisoners  by  the  same  generous  rule. 

Here  is  a  significant  letter  from  General 
Grant  to  Halleck. 

"CiTY  POINT,  VA.,  February  18,   1865. 

"  Your  communication  of  the  I5th  inst,  with 
inclosure,  calling  my  attention  to  the  fact  that 
advantage  is  being  taken  by  General  Beall, 
Confederate  agent,  of  the  recent  agreement 
between  Judge  Ould  and  myself,  to  supply 
rebel  prisoners  with  new  uniforms  and  blank- 

*  A  notice  in  one  of  the  Richmond  journals  said:  "There  are 
now  in  Richmond,  and  at  the  hospitals  adjacent  thereto,  several 
thousand  of  our  wounded  in  the  great  battles  on  the  Rapidan.  They 
are  in  great  want  of  almost  every  necessary  save  a  stout  Southern 
heart,  a  determined  will  and  hand.  We  know  our  citizens  will  sup 
ply  them,  to  the  extent  of  their  ability,  with  fresh  diet,  clean  linen, 
and  every  appliance  which  their  economy  and  frugality  and  general 
domestic  order  may  suggest." 


EXCHANGE   OF  PRISONERS.  555 

ets,  is  received.  The  arrangement  for  the  re 
lief  of  prisoners  of  war  was  made  at  a  time 
when  exchanges  could  not  be  made,  and  un 
der  it  I  see  no  way  to  prevent  rebel  prisoners 
from  being  clothed.  Having,  however,  a  very 
large  excess  of  prisoners  over  the  enemy,  we 
can,  in  making  exchanges,  select  those  who 
have  not  been  furnished  with  new  clothing  or 
blankets.  By  this  means  but  a  very  limited 
number  of  rebel  soldiers  will  be  returned  with 
new  uniforms.  Should  it  become  necessary, 
prisoners  for  exchange  can  be  required  to 
turn  their  blankets  over  to  their  comrades  who 
remain. 

"Please  give  orders  to  General  Hoffman 
accordingly."  * 

Professor  Dabney,  of  the  University  of  Vir 
ginia,  wrote  as  follows  in  answer  to  an  article 
of  The  Nation  condemnatory  of  the  Con 
federates  for  their  abuse  of  prisoners. 

"  To  the  Editor  of  The  Nation. 

"  SIR  :  As  you  state  in  your  editorial  of  last 
week  that  the  diet  at  Johnson's  Island  was 
'  exceptionally  abundant  and  varied/  I  wish 
to  call  the  attention  of  your  readers  to  certain 
evidence  to  the  contrary,  which  I  have  heard. 

"After  reading  your   article  I   went  to  a 

*  North  American  Review,  March,  1886. 


556  JEFFERSON  DAVTS. 

gentleman  whose  brother,  a  Confederate  lieu 
tenant,  died,  after  leaving  Johnson's  Island, 
from  the  effects  of  hardships  suffered  at  that 
place,  and  asked  him  whether  his  brother  had 
found  the  food  '  exceptionally  abundant  and 
varied.'  Briefly  stated,  the  lieutenant's  ac 
count  was  as  follows  :  The  food,  though  usu 
ally  satisfactory  as  to  quality,  was  not  always 
so,  as  may  be  inferred  from  the  fact  that,  in 
order  to  have  a  better  Christmas  dinner  than 
was  furnished  him,  he  made  soup  out  of  some 
fish-skins  which  he  had  raked  out  of  a  gutter. 
As  to  the  abundance,  he  heard  the  command 
ant  of  the  prison,  whom  he  praised  highly  for 
his  kindness,  say  that  he  was  well  aware  that 
the  prisoners  did  not  have  enough  to  eat,  but 
that  he  was  under  strict  orders  not  to  give 
them  any  more.  Delicacies  were  sent  him  by 
New  York  and  Louisville  ladies,  but  were 
intercepted  by  the  guards  or  other  persons 
and  never  reached  him.  Moreover,  in  that 
bitterly  cold  climate,  he  was  not  allowed  a 
blanket  to  cover  himself  at  night  until  after 
Christmas. 

"  I  am  well  acquainted  with  a  Confederate 
captain  now  living  in  Richmond,  a  perfect 
Hercules  in  physique,  who  (if  I  remember 
rightly)  weighed  fifty  pounds  less  upon  leav 
ing  Johnson's  Island  than  when  he  entered  its 
prison  walls. 


EXCHANGE   OF  PRISONERS.  557 

"'And  now  let  me  quote  from  '  Leute  in 
den  Vereinigten  Staaten  '  (Leipzig,  i8S6j,  a 
work  by  Ernst  Hohenwart  (possibly  a  pseu 
donym),  a  German  who  spent  nearly  thirty 
years  in  the  United  States,  and  who  fought 
as  an  officer  in  the  Northern  army.  I  shall 
italicize  certain  important  phrases. 

"  '  Much  has  been  said  of  the  cruel  treatment 
of  Northern  soldiers  in  Southern  prisons. 
Having  myself  been  a  prisoner  in  the  South 
for  more  than  thirteen  months,  and  having 
been  afterward  stationed  with  my  regiment 
at  a  place  where  more  than  twenty-five  thou 
sand  Southern  soldiers  were  confined,  I  think 
I  have  a  right  to  an  opinion  as  to  the  rela 
tive  treatment  of  prisoners  in  the  North  and 
South. 

"  '  It  is  true  that  the  Southerners  treated 
their  prisoners  much  less  well  than  the  North 
erners,  for  the  simple  reason  that  they  had 
not  the  means  to  treat  them  better,  and  often, 
especially  toward  the  end  of  the  war,  them 
selves  suffered  from  want. 

"  'The  South  wished  to  permit  the  officers, 
according  to  European  custom,  to  live  in  town 
on  parole  and  half  pay.  I  myself  and  other 
officers  lived  for  some  months  in  Raleigh,  and 
were  granted  much  freedom  of  movement, 
but  the  North  treated  Southern  officers  like 
common  soldiers,  and  the  South  afterward  did 


558  JEFFERSON  DA  VIS. 

the  same.  So  long  as  they  were  able,  'they 
gave  us  good  rations,  afterward  very  often 
spoilt  bacon,  cured  with  wood-ashes — they 
were  short  of  salt  * — or  beef  cured  with  saltpe 
tre,  or  fresh  horse  meat ;  a  pound  of  bread  a 
day  being  added,  and  sometimes  a  handful  of 
beans  or  rice.  During  the  winter  we  were 
unable  to  buy  anything  additional,  but,  as 
soon  as  summer  came,  country  people  brought 
us  provisions  which  we  were  permitted  to  buy. 
The  fare  of  our  guards  was  not  much  better 
than  oiir  own. 

"  '  Of 'intentional 'cruelty  I  saw  nothing,  but 
on  the  contrary,  always  found  both  officers 
and  men  very  friendly  and  obliging,  and  most 
willing  to  alleviate  our  lot.  When  requested 
to  bring  us  tobacco  or  other  articles  from 
town,  they  were  always  glad  to  do  so,  and  / 
never  heard  of  a  single  instance  in  which  such 
a  request  was  refused. 

"  Since  writing  the  above  I  have  seen  an 
other  gentleman,  who  tells  me  that  he  knows 
a  number  of  Confederates  who  '  varied  '  their 
'  abundant '  diet  at  Johnson's  Island  with  the 
flesh  of  rats,  an  article  of  food  which  was  also 
enjoyed  by  the  lieutenant  whom  I  mentioned 
in  the  first  part  of  my  letter. 

"  R.   H.  DABNEY. 

"UNIVERSITY  OF  VIRGINIA,  February  2,    1890." 
*  Our  salt  had  no  preservative  property. 


EXCHANGE    OF  PRISONERS.  559 

In  this  connection  Senator  Daniel's  opinion, 
expressed  on  January  25th,  will  be  of  interest. 
He  said : 

"He  would  have  turned  with  loathing  from 

o 

misuse  of  a  prisoner,  for  there  was  no  char 
acteristic  of  Jefferson  Davis  more  marked 
than  his  regard  for  the  weak,  the  helpless,  and 
the  captive.  By  act  of  the  Confederate  Con 
gress  and  by  general  orders,  the  same  rations 
served  to  the  Confederates  were  issued  to  the 
prisoners,  though  taken  from  a  starving  army 
and  people. 

"  Brutal  and  base  was  the  effort  to  stigma 
tize  him  as  a  conspirator  to  maltreat  prison 
ers,  but  better  for  him  that  it  was  made  ;  for 
while  he  was  himself  yet  in  prison,  the  evi 
dences  of  his  humanity  were  so  overwhelming 
that  finally  slander  stood  abashed  and  malig 
nity  recoiled. 

"  Even  at  Andersonville,  where  the  hot 
summer  sun  was  of  course  disastrous  to  men 
of  the  Northern  clime,  well  nigh  as  many  of 
their  guard  died  as  of  them. 

"  With  60,000  more  Federal  prisoners  in 
the  South  than  there  were  Confederate  pris 
oners  in  the  North,  6,000  more  Confederates 
than  Federals  died  in  prison.  A  cyclone  of 
rhetoric  cannot  shake  this  mountain  of  fact, 
and  these  facts  are  alike  immovable : 

"  i.   Unable  to  get  medicines  in  the  Con- 


560  JEFFERSON  DAVIS. 

federacy,  an  offer  was  made  to  buy  them  from 
the  United  States  for  the  sole  use  of  Federal 
prisoners.  No  answer  was  made. 

"  2.  Then  an  offer  was  made  to  deliver  the 
sick  and  wounded  without  any  equivalent  in 
exchange.  There  was  no  reply  for  months. 

"  3.  Finally,  and  as  soon  as  the  United 
States  would  receive  them,  thousands  of  both 
sick  and  well  were  delivered  without  ex 
change. 

"  The  record  leaves  no  doubt  as  to  the  re 
sponsibility  for  refusal  to  exchange. 

"  Charles  A.  Dana,  of  the  New  York  Sun, 
formerly  Assistant  Secretary  of  War,  nobly 
vindicated  President  Davis  while  he  lived, 
declared  him  '  altogether  acquitted '  of  the 
charge,  and  said  of  him  dead,  '  A  majestic 
soul  has  passed.' 

"  When  General  Lee  congratulated  his 
army  on  the  victories  of  Richmond,  he  said 
to  them  :  '  Your  humanity  to  the  wounded 
and  the  prisoners  was  the  fit  and  crowning 
glory  of  your  valor/  " 

Here  is  an  experience  related  by  a  respon 
sible  man. 

A   Story  of  Horror. 

"  Yesterday,  in  glancing  over  the  Century 
for  January,  under  the  head  of  '  Shooting 
Into  Libby,'  I  found  two  letters  from  Federal 
soldiers  about  Confederate  guards  shooting 


EXCHANGE   OF  PRISONERS.  561 

at  Federal  prisoners,  while  resting  in  the  win 
dows  of  Libby.  They  would  make  it  appear 
that  this  was  the  amusement  of  the  private 
soldier,  with  the  knowledge  and  approval  of 
Confederate  authorities,  saying :  '  We  never 
heard  instructions  that  we  might  do  this  or 
not  do  that.' 

"  I  cannot  look  on  the  Maxwell  House 
without  remembering  as  bloody  and  gratuit 
ous  a  tragedy  as  ever  stained  the  records  of 
our  civil  war. 

11  In  the  winter  of  1864  I  was  city  editor  of 
the  Daily  Press  ;  the  Maxwell  House,  in  an 
unfinished  condition,  was  then  used  by  the 
Federals  as  a  prison  for  Confederate  soldiers. 

"  One  morning,  as  I  came  down-stairs  and 
turned  down  Cherry  toward  Union,  I  saw  a 
Federal  guard  taking  his  smoking  gun  from 
his  shoulder,  while  people  were  standing 
around  with  expressions  of  horror  on  their 
faces.  On  asking  a  citizen  what  was  the 
matter  he  answered,  with  indignation  and 
subdued  fear :  '  Look  !  That  Federal  guard 
has  murdered  a  Confederate  soldier.' 

"  Looking  to  the  fourth  story  of  the  Max 
well  House,  I  saw  a  dead  Confederate  soldier 
with  his  head  lying  in  a  window  and  blood 
streaming  from  him  down  the  walls  and 
spattering  the  pavement  below.  The  guard 
had  orders  to  shoot  any  Confederate  who 
VOL.  II.— 36 


562  JEFFERSON  DAVIS. 

appeared  at  a  window.  He  told  the  Con 
federate  to  go  back  or  he  would  shoot.  .  The 
boy  in  gray,  having  no  idea  he  would  do  so, 
responded  by  playfully  waving  his  hand  at  the 
guard.  In  an  instant  a  bullet  went  crashing 
through  his  brain  and  he  was  a  dead  man. 

o 

The  Confederate  prisoners  declared  they  had 
received  no  intimation  of  any  such  order. 

"  Now,  could  we  not,  from  this  instance,  as 
truthfully  declare  the  fact  that  Federal  soldiers 
amused  themselves  at  Nashville  by  shooting 
and  killing  Confederate  prisoners  ?  " 

In  a    Yankee  Prison. 

Written  for  the  Nashville  American. 

"  It  was  the  misfortune  of  the  writer  to  be 
captured  on  the  memorable  raid  through 
Indiana  and  Ohio,  made  by  General  John.  H. 
Morgan  in  July,  1863. 

"  I  write  of  some  of  the  unpublished  events 
occurring  during  an  incarceration  as  a  prisoner 
of  war,  for  twenty-two  months,  within  a  five- 
acre  lot  on  the  shores  of  Lake  Michigan,  in  a 
place  designated  Camp  Douglas.  This  prison 
was  for  the  safe-keeping  of  privates  and  non 
commissioned  officers.  It  contained  an  area 
of  about  five  acres,  laid  off  into  main  streets 
of  about  thirty  feet  width,  intersected  at 
regular  intervals  by  cross  streets  about  half 
the  width,  perhaps.  Barracks  were  erected 


EXCHANGE   OF   PRISONERS.  563 

fronting  the  main  avenues,  intended  to  ac 
commodate  (?)  about  1 80  men,  and  numbered 
one,  two,  three,  etc.,  up  to  sixty  odd.  These 
were  enclosed  by  a  fence  about  twenty  feet 
high,  near  the  top  of  which  was  a  plank  walk 
for  the  Yankee  guards.  Each  barrack  had  a 
rebel  and  Yankee  sergeant,  the  former  elected 
by  the  occupants,  whose  duty  it  was  to  call  the 
morning  roll,  report  the  escapes,  deaths,  etc. 
My  bunk  was  in  the  southeast  corner  of  bar 
rack  No.  10,  and  my  men  honored  me  by  elect 
ing  me  their  sergeant,  which  unenviable  po 
sition  was  held  during  the  entire  term  of  im 
prisonment.  There  were  at  one  time  11,000 
prisoners  confined  in  this  small  enclosure. 

"  He  who  has  never  suffered  the  torture  of 
continued  hunger,  knows  nothing  about  the 
luxury  of  a  full  meal. 

"  I  might  tell  of  the  ravages  of  the  small 
pox,  of  the  inconveniences  and  discomforts  of 
the  itch  and  pediculus  vestimenti,  but  these 
were  mere  bagatelles,  little  side-shows,  com 
pared  to  other  performances  going  on  within 
the  big  menagerie.  Out  of  a  mind  replete 
with  memories  of  this  prison  life  of  twenty-five 
years  ago,  I  remember  that  on  a  cold  De 
cember  day,  early  in  the  morning,  the  entire 
Confederate  camp  was  ordered  to  assemble 
in  the  Yankee  square.  This  square  was  just 
across  the  fence  from  ours,  *  What's  up 


564  JEFFERSON  DAVIS. 

now  ?  '  was  whispered  from  comrade  to  com 
rade.  After  being  disposed  in  battle  array, 
every  ragged  Rebel  standing  there  with  his 
coat-tails  flapping  in  the  breezes  off  Lake 
Michigan  like  the  sails  of  some  stranded 
schooner,  the  process  was  begun  of  divest 
ing  each  and  everyone  of  us  of  every  rag  of 
clothing  that  gave  us  the  semblance  of  citi 
zenship.  Instead  of  the  variegated  costumes 
in  which  we  were  caparisoned,  we  were  given 
a  stiff,  black  cavalry  hat,  a  brown-black  coat 
and  pants,  the  coat  being  divested  of  half  its 
tail.  In  this  unique  garb  we  were  marched 
back  to  our  quarters.  What  disposition  was 
ever  made  of  the  clothes  we  gave  in  ex 
change  we  never  took  the  trouble  to  inquire. 
This  was  done  to  prevent  escapes,  which 
had  grown  to  be  monotonously  frequent.  But 
woe  to  the  Reb  who  failed  in  the  attempt,  and 
was  recaptured. 

"  By  far  the  largest  number  of  escapes 
from  Camp  Douglas  were  accomplished 
through  the  aid  of  one  of  the  guards.  He 
finally  deserted  with  a  batch  of  prisoners  to 
Canada.  He  had  no  pity  for  us,  but  a  slavish 
love  for  the  $5  given  him  in  advance  by  each 
escaping  prisoner.  A  lot  of  prisoners  trying 
to  effect  their  escape  one  night  were  recapt 
ured  just  outside  the  enclosure.  Among 
them  was  a  son  of  ex-Governor  McGoffin, 


EXCHANGE   OP  PRISONERS.  565 

of  Kentucky.  He,  with  the  others,  was  sus 
pended  by  the  thumbs  next  morning  for  the 
purpose  of  extorting  the  betrayal  of  his  ac 
complices.  They  remained  as  dumb  as  oys 
ters,  although  suspended  until  the  balls  of 
the  thumbs  absolutely  burst  open. 

"This  thumb  business  was  effected  by  a 
twine  string,  making  a  noose  and  placed 
over  the  thumb  of  each  hand ;  the  opposite 
ends  were  thrown  over  a  beam  overhead.  A 
stout,  heavy  man  then  pulled  upon  the  loose 
ends  until  the  victim's  weight  was  almost  en 
tirely  sustained  by  his  thumbs  and  held  thus 
ad  libitum. 

"Another  mode  of  punishment  was  called 
'  pointing  for  corn/  This  consisted  in  stand 
ing  stiff-legged,  stooping  over  and  touching 
the  ground  with  the  index-finger  of  the  right 
hand.  If  you  think  this  little  manoeuvre  is 
not  difficult,  assume  the  position  for  five  or  ten 
minutes,  and  then  report.  I  have  seen  a 
hundred  or  more  men  in  this  ludicrous  posi 
tion  at  one  time,  and  numbers  faint  and  fall 
down  in  line.  Another  mode  of  punishment 
was  to  ride  '  John  Morgan's  Mule.'  This 
mule  was  composed  of  six  legs  about  twenty 
feet  long  attached  to  a  scantling  2+4  inches, 
the  narrow  part  of  this  horizontal  piece  being 
placed  upward,  formed  the  back  of  this  pa 
tient  Bucephalus,  I  have  seen  his  back  so 


566  J&FPERSON  DAVIS. 

full  that  there  did  not  remain  room  for  an 
other  rider.  To  say  that  this  wooden  horse 
was  never  without  a  rider,  except  at  night, 
would  be  literally  true. 

"  The  last  twelve  months  of  our  imprison 
ment  was  noted  for  scant  rations.  Hunger 
was  the  prevailing  epidemic.  I  will  relate 
the  following  actual  occurrence  as  an  illustra 
tion  of  the  humiliating  effects  of  long,  contin 
ued  hunger  :  At  one  end  of  our  barracks  was 
our  kitchen,  and  by  the  door  of  the  kitchen 
stood  a  barrel,  into  which  was  thrown  the 
beef  bones,  slop,  etc.  Some  of  these  starved 
creatures  used  to  go  to  these  barrels,  fish 
out  the  bones,  and  appropriate  what  could 
be  got  off  them  to  appease  their  terrible  hun 
ger.  On  one  occasion  a  Yankee  guard  found 
a  prisoner  engaged  in  this  business.  He 
snatched  the  bone  out  of  the  prisoner's  hand, 
cocked  his  pistol,  presented  it  at  the  hungry 
prisoner,  and  ordered  him  down  on  his  all- 
fours  to  bark  like  a  dog  for  the  bone  he  was 
holding  above  him,  until  his  beastly  inhu 
manity  was  satisfied.  To  say  that  we  who 
witnessed  this  transaction  were  indignant  is  a 
poor  description  of  what  we  felt. 

"  Each  barrack  was  supplied  with  wooden 
spittoons  placed  along  the  aisle.  A  comrade 
from  a  neighbor  barrack  was  visiting  a  friend 
in  No,  10,  and  while  sitting  in  an  upper  bunk 


EXCHANGE   OF  PRISONERS.  567 

attempted  to  spit  into  one  of  these  spittoons, 
but  missing  it,  spat  upon  the  floor.  The 
Yankee  sergeant  nosing  around  discovered 
the  spit  upon  the  floor,  and  demanded  of  me 
the  name  of  the  party  who  did  it.  Now, 
there  was  an  unwritten  law  among  us  not  to 
tell  tales  out  of  school,  and  it  was  kept  in 
violate  in  the  presence  of  any  torture  that 
might  be  used  to  extort  from  us  information 
that  would  subject  a  comrade  to  punishment. 
I  informed  him  that  I  did  not  know  who  did 
it,  but  would  not  tell  him  if  I  knew.  This, 
of  course,  infuriated  him.  He  gave  me  two 
hours  to  find  the  person  and  divulge  his 
name.  If  not  done  at  the  expiration  of  the 
time  he  would  punish  the  '  hull  d — d  bar 
racks/  The  information  not  being  forth 
coming,  we,  to  the  number  of  one  hundred 
or  more,  were  ordered  out  into  the  street. 
Now,  the  snow  lay  on  the  ground  to  the 
depth  of  eighteen  inches.  Along  the  middle 
of  the  street  was  a  pathway  leading  to  the 
hydrant,  and  in  this  pathway  we  were  drawn 
up  in  line.  We  were  then  ordered  to  right 
backward  dress  out  into  the  snow  up  to  our 
knees.  We  were  then  ordered  to  strip  from 
the  waist  down.  This  command  being  exe 
cuted,  we  were  next  ordered  to  sit  down  on 
the  snow.  This  command  was  complied  with, 
and  if  perchance  some  shivering  prisoner  had 


568  JEFFERSON  DAVIS. 

involuntarily  pushed  his  shirt  or  blanket  be 
tween  himself  and  the  dampness  beneath,  a 
detail  was  sent  down  the  line  in  the  rear  and 
rudely  snatched  every  remnant  of  clothing 
from  beneath,  so  that  there  we  sat  with  ab 
solutely  nothing  intervening  between  us  and 
the  snow.  These  manoeuvres  were  something 
new  in  military  tactics,  and  doubtless  never 
entered  the  brain  of  such  sluggards  as  Hardee 
and  Upton.  How  long  we  sat  there,  I  do  not 
know  ;  seconds  seemed  hours,  minutes  days. 
The  outrage  was  reported  to  Colonel  Sweet, 
the  commandant,  but  no  notice  was  taken  of  it. 
"  For  the  highest  type  of  loyalty,  that  un 
selfish,  generous,  cheerful,  unspotted  kind, 
commend  me  to  the  Confederate  prisoner  of 
war,  who  for  long  months  patiently  endured 
the  punishment  and  indignities  heaped  upon 
him  by  his  inferiors.  Day  after  day  suffering 
the  pangs  of  hunger.  All  this,  and  the  privi 
lege  waiting  him  of  taking  the  oath  and  going 
home  any  day  he  chose.  There  was  simply 
no  limit  to  his  patient  loyalty.  There  was 
nothing  like  it.  "  J.  B.  WEST, 

"  Ex-O.  S.  Co.  B.,  Second  Ky.  Cav.,  C.  S.  A. 

NASHVILLE,  TENN." 

December  14,  1861. — John  Hanson  Thom 
as,  William  Harrison,  Charles  H.  Pitts,  and 
S,  Teakle  Wallis  were,  for  their  opinion's 


EXCHANGE  OF  PRISONERS.  569 

sake,  confined  in  a  room  darkened  with  Vene 
tian  shutters  fastened  outside  with  iron  bars, 
and  there  were  only  about  twenty-two  to 
forty-four  inches  over  the  doors  by  which  light 
came  into  their  rooms.  They  were  never  al 
lowed  out  for  a  moment  for  two  weeks,  and 
the  impure  air  was  stifling,  though  they  used 
disinfectants.  They  were  after  this  sent  to 
Fort  Lafayette,  where  they  were  turned  into  a 
casemate  with  a  brick  floor,  with  no  other  fur 
niture  than  guns  and  gun-carriages.  They 
were  not  allowed  their  trunks  for  seats.  All 
that  night  they  walked  their  rooms  ;  the  next 
day  they  received  their  trunks,  and  then 
spread  their  clothes  upon  the  floor  and  laid 
on  them.  The  third  day,  loose  straw  was 
given  them.  After  ten  days  iron  bedsteads 
were  furnished  with  straw  beds,  but  no  pil 
lows  or  covering.  They  were  subsequently 
allowed  the  liberty  of  the  Fort  yard  for  stated 
hours.  I  have  not  space  for  many  testimon 
ials  by  men  of  undoubted  veracity  of  the 
cruelties  inflicted  on  them  in  Northern  pris 
ons. 

A  letter  from  General  I.  R.  Trimble  said : 

"  I  regret  that  a  full  statement  of  facts  re 
lating  to  our  treatment  on  Johnson  Island, 
which  I  had  prepared  by  a  committee  of  offi 
cers,  was  left  with  the  secretary  and  is  now 


570  JEFFERSON  DAVIS. 

beyond  my  reach.  These  facts  would  make 
all  fair-minded  men  blush  with  shame. 

"  More  than  $3,000  had  been  retained  by 
officials  from  remittances  sent  to  prisoners  by 
relatives  and  friends,  as  all  our  letters  were 
opened. 

"  We  were  once  three  days  and  nights 
without  any  fire  in  our  room  or  kitchen,  dur 
ing  the  most  inclement  weather  of  1864. 

"WALNUT  SPRINGS,  LONDON,  O., 
"  October  23,  1886." 

Extracts  from  these  letters  are  given  that 
our  prisoners'  side  of  the  sufferings  endured 
in  the  North  may  be  duly  weighed  by  the 
judgment  of  Northern  people.  No  one  book 
would  hold  all  the  evidence  which  could  be 
adduced  to  prove  the  sufferings  of  our  brave 
men  in  Northern  prisons.  Ours  was  a  coun 
try  devastated  by  invaders  who  carried  a 
sword  in  one  hand  and  a  cord  and  torch  in 
the  other.  The  North  was  bountifully  sup 
plied  with  everything  needful  for  comfort  and 
luxury,  but  the  Confederate  prisoners  expect 
ed  only  the  bare  necessaries  of  life,  and  these 
were  denied  them.  We  shared  our  scanty 
fare  alike  with  those  who  came  to  destroy  us 
and  were  taken  captive  in  the  act,  and  with 
the  soldiers  who  were  defending  us  and  our 
households.  If  it  was  not  enough  for  the 


EXCHANGE   OF  PRISONERS.  571 

prisoners,  no  more  was  it  sufficient  to  sus 
tain  our  soldiers  in  their  herculean  strife 
against  a  foe  supplied  with  men  and  means 
ad  libitum. 

During  the  stringent  period  of  our  war  I  was 
obliged,  through  a  tradeswoman,  to  sell  my 
carriage  and  horses,  my  handsome  articles  of 
dress,  jewelry,  etc.,  to  get  the  necessaries  of 
life,  and  our  nephew,  commanding  a  brigade, 
came  home  from  the  front  of  Petersburg  so 
much  reduced  in  flesh  that  it  was  remarked. 
He  gave  as  a  reason  that  his  negro  ser 
vant  could  not  bear  starvation  as  well  as  he 
could,  and  he  had,  he  supposed,  given  him 
too  much  of  the  rations  intended  for  him 
self. 

Though  I  recognize  the  reminiscence  of 
our  devoted  friend,  the  brilliant  soldier,  and 
representative  Southern  patriot,  General  Rob 
ert  Ransom,  as  the  exact  truth,  we  did  not 
feel  the  deprivations  of  the  war  as  onerous 
until  hope  was  dead. 

Comparative  Mortality  of  Federal  and  Con 
federate  Prisons. 

A  correspondent  of  the  New  York  Trib 
une  adduces  the  "  logic  of  facts,"  in  a  very 
conclusive  manner,  in  the  following  communi 
cation  : 


DAVIS. 

"  The  Elmira  Gazette  is  authority  for  the 
following  :  In  the  four  months  of  February, 
March,  April,  and  May,  1865,  out  of  5,027 
prisoners  confined  there,  1,311  died,  showing 
a  death  -  rate  per  month  of  6-|-  per  cent., 
against  less  than  three  per  cent,  at  Ander- 
sonville,  or  more  than  double  at  Elmira  to 
that  at  Andersonville.  Again,  Mr.  Keiley, 
in  his  journal  of  September,  1864,  when  con 
fined  there,  kept  a  record  of  deaths  for  that 
month,  and  states  them  to  be  386  out  of 
9,500  then  there,  or  at  a  rate  of  four  per  cent, 
against  three  per  cent,  in  Andersonville.  It 
must  also  be  taken  into  consideration  that  in 
the  South  our  armies  formed  a  barrier  against 
the  introduction  of  both  food  and  medicine, 
while  in  our  case  there  was  abundance  of 
everything.  "  J.  L.  T." 

The  answer  of  the  Tribune  is  a  curiosity 
of  lame,  impotent  evasion.  It  says  : 

"  We  think  Congress  made  a  blunder  in 
not  opening  the  whole  subject ;  yet  we  can 
not  deem  the  above  statistics  either  trust 
worthy  or  conclusive.  Many  prisoners  of 
war  are  diseased  or  wounded  when  captured ; 
inadequate  or  unwholesome  food  has  brought 
many  to  the  confines  of  the  grave." 

Disease  and  wounds,  we  presume,  operated 
on  both  sides  of  the  question.  Inadequate 


EXCHANGE    OF  PRISONERS.  573 

and  unwholesome  food — as  the  writer  above 
had  just  shown — operated  very  unequally  on 
the  Southern  side. 

Federal  prisoners  in  the  South 270,000 

Confederate  prisoners  in  the  North 220,000 

Excess  of  Federal  prisoners 50,000 

Deaths  in  Prison. 

Confederates  in  the  North 26,436 

Federals  in  the  South 22,576 

Excess  of  Confederates  died 3>86o 

But  if  we  make  our  calculations  from  the 
reports  of  the  United  States  War  Depart 
ment,  which  show  sixty  thousand  more  Fed 
eral  prisoners  and  six  thousand  more  Con 
federate  deaths,  why,  then,  the  per  cent,  is 
made  even  still  greater  in  favor  of  Southern 
humanity. 

Such  salient  points  as  these  must  ere  long 
constitute  a  part  of  that  faithful  history  which 
will  be  written  as  soon  as  passion  subsides, 
and  other  men  and  other  times  can  do  us  jus 
tice. 

Mr.  Davis  was  so  painfully  affected  by  the 
death-rate  and  suffering  of  the  prisoners  at 
Andersonville,  that  even  in  the  few  hours  he 
spent  at  home  their  condition  weighed  dread 
fully  upon  his  spirits.  He  was  quite  feeble, 
but  used  to  remain  in  his  office  from  10  A.M. 
until  seven  and  sometimes  eight  o'clock  in  the 


574  JEFFERSON  DAVIS. 

evening  without  food.  If  I  sent  luncheon  to 
him  he  forgot  to  eat  it,  and  I  fell  into  the 
habit  of  going  to  his  office  daily  for  ten  min 
utes  to  offer  it  to  him.  Whatever  friend 
chanced  to  be  there  partook  of  the  refresh 
ment  with  him.  One  day  I  found  General 
Lee  there.  Both  were  very  grave,  and  the 
subject  of  their  conference  was  the  want  and 
suffering  at  Andersonville,  as  portrayed  by 
General  Winder's  private  letter  to  the  Presi 
dent.  Mr.  Davis  said,  "  If  we  could  only  get 
them  across  the  trans-Mississippi,  there  beef 
and  supplies  of  all  kinds  are  abundant,  but 
what  can  we  do  for  them  here  ?  "  General 
Lee  answered  quickly  to  this  effect,  "  Our 
men  are  in  the  same  case,  except  that  they 
are  free.  Their  sufferings  are  the  result  of 
our  necessities,  not  of  our  policy.  Do  not 
distress  yourself." 

Disasters  were  reported  from  every  quar 
ter.  Croakers  vilified  the  President,  and  fore 
told  evil  results  from  every  expedient  tried  by 
the  Administration.  The  army  and  many  of 
the  Congressmen  remained,  if  not  confident, 
at  least  willing  to  fight  to  the  end. 


CHAPTER  LVI. 

JOURNEY    TO    CHARLOTTE. 

DARKNESS  seemed  now  to  close  swiftly 
over  the  Confederacy,  and  about  a  week  be 
fore  the  evacuation  of  Richmond,  Mr.  Davis 
came  to  me  and  gently,  but  decidedly,  an- 
nounced  the  necessity  for  our  departure.  He 
said  for  the  future  his  headquarters  must  be  in 
the  field,  and  that  our  presence  would  only 
embarrass  and  grieve,  instead  of  comforting 
him.  Very  averse  to  flight,  and  unwilling  at 
all  times  to  leave  him,  I  argued  the  question 
with  him  and  pleaded  to  be  permitted  to  re 
main,  until  he  said:  "I  have  confidence  in 
your  capacity  to  take  care  of  our  babies,  and 
understand  your  desire  to  assist  and  comfort 
me,  but  you  can  do  this  in  but  one  way,  and 
that  is  by  going  yourself  and  taking  our  chil 
dren  to  a  place  of  safety."  He  was  very  much 
affected  and  said,  "  If  I  live  you  can  come  to 
me  when  the  struggle  is  ended,  but  I  do  not 
expect  to  survive  the  destruction  of  constitu 
tional  liberty." 

He  had  a  little  gold,  and  reserving  a  five- 
dollar  piece  for  himself,  he  gave  it  all  to  me,  as 


576  JEFFERSON  DAVIS. 

well  as  all  the  Confederate  money  due  to 
him.  He  desired  me  not  to  request  any  of 
the  citizens  of  Richmond  to  take  care  of  my 
silver  plate,  of  which  we  possessed  a  large 
quantity,  for,  said  he,  "  They  may  be  exposed 
to  inconvenience  or  outrage  by  their  effort  to 


serve  us." 


All  women  like  bric-a-brac,  which  senti 
mental  people  call  their  "household  goods," 
but  Mr.  Davis  called  it  "  trumpery."  I  was  not 
superior  to  the  rest  of  my  sex  in  this  regard. 
However,  everything  which  could  not  be 
readily  transported  was  sent  to  a  dealer  for 
sale,  and  we  received  quite  a  large  draft  on  a 
Richmond  bank  as  the  proceeds,  but  in  the 
hurry  of  departure  the  check  was  not  cashed, 
and  I  have  it  now. 

Leaving  the  house  as  it  was,  and  taking 
only  our  clothing,  I  made  ready  with  my  young 
sister  and  my  four  little  children,  the  eldest 
only  nine  years  old,  to  go  forth  into  the  un 
known.  Mr.  Burton  N.  Harrison,  the  Presi 
dent's  private  secretary,  was  to  protect  and 
see  us  safely  settled  in  Charlotte,  where  we 
had  hired  a  furnished  house.  Mr.  George 
A.  Trenholm's  lovely  daughters  were  also  to 
accompany  us  to  remain  with  friends  there. 

I  had  bought  several  barrels  of  flour,  and 
intended  to  take  them  with  me,  but  Mr.  Davis 
said,  "  You  cannot  remove  anything  in  the 


JOURNEY   TO   CHARLOTTE.  577 

shape  of  food  from  here,  the  people  want  it, 
and  you  must  leave  it  here." 

The  deepest  depression  had  settled  upon  the 
whole  city ;  the  streets  were  almost  deserted. 

The  day  before  our  departure  Mr.  Davis 
gave  me  a  pistol  and  showed  me  how  to  load, 
aim,  and  fire  it.  He  was  very  apprehensive  of 
our  falling  into  the  hands  of  the  disorganized 
bands  of  troops  roving  about  the  country, 
and  said,  "  You  can  at  least,  if  reduced  to  the 
last  extremity,  force  your  assailants  to  kill  you, 
but  I  charge  you  solemnly  to  leave  when  you 
hear  the  enemy  are  approaching  ;  and  if  you 
cannot  remain  undisturbed  in  our  own  coun 
try,  make  for  the  Florida  coast  and  take  a 
ship  there  for  a  foreign  country." 

With  hearts  bowed  down  by  despair,  we 
left  Richmond.  Mr.  Davis  almost  gave  way, 
when  our  little  Jeff  begged  to  remain  with 
him,  and  Maggie  clung  to  him  convulsively, 
for  it  was  evident  he  thought  he  was  looking 
his  last  upon  us. 

In  those  days  a  special  train  was  not  con 
templated,  for  the  transportation  was  now 
very  limited,  and  as  we  pulled  out  from  the 
station  and  lost  sight  of  Richmond,  the  worn- 
out  engine  broke  down,  and  there  we  sat  all 
night.  There  were  no  arrangements  possible 
for  sleeping,  and  at  last,  after  twelve  hours' 

delay,  we   reached    Danville.     A    hospitable 
VOL.  II.— 37 


578  JEFFERSON  DAVIS. 

and  wealthy  citizen  of  that  place  invited  me  to 
rest  with  his  family,  but  we  gratefully  declined 
and  proceeded  to  Charlotte. 

The  baggage  cars  were  all  needing  repairs 
and  leaked  badly.  Our  bedding  was  wet 
through  by  the  constant  rains  that  poured 
down  in  the  week  of  uninterrupted  travel 
which  was  consumed  in  reaching  our  destina 
tion.  Universal  consternation  prevailed 
throughout  the  country,  and  we  avoided  see 
ing  people  for  fear  of  compromising  them 
with  the  enemy,  should  they  overrun  North 
Carolina.  We  found  everything  packed  up 
in  the  house  we  had  rented,  but  the  agent,  Mr. 
A.  Weill,  an  Israelite,  came  to  meet  us  there, 
and  gave  us  every  assistance  in  his  power  ; 
and  when  he  found  there  were  no  conven 
iences  for  cooking,  he  sent  our  meals  from  his 
own  house  for  several  days,  refusing,  with 
many  cordial  words,  any  offer  to  reimburse 
him  for  the  expense  incurred,  and  he  offered 
money  or  any  other  service  he  could  render. 
This  acknowledgment  of  his  kindness  is,  to 
some  extent,  a  relief  to  my  heart,  which  has 
borne  his  goodness  in  grateful  memory  for 
twenty-five  years.- 

Mr.  Harrison,  after  seeing  us  safely  estab 
lished  in  Charlotte,  fearing  he  might  be  sepa 
rated  from  Mr.  Davis,  and  hoping  to  be  of 
use,  set  out  for  Richmond  to  rejoin  him, 


CHAPTER   LVII. 

NEARING    THE   END. 

As  hope  died  out  in  the  breasts  of  the  rank 
and  file  of  the  Confederate  Army,  the  Presi 
dent's  courage  rose,  and  he  was  fertile  in  ex 
pedients  to  supply  deficiencies,  and  calm  in 
the  contemplation  of  the  destruction  of  his 
dearest  hopes,  and  the  violent  death  he  ex 
pected  to  be  his. 

As  late  as  April  i,  1865,  he  wrote  to  Gen 
eral  Lee  from  Richmond,  of  the  difficulty  of 
finding  iron  enough  to  keep  the  Tredegar 
works  employed,  and  said  :  "  There  is  also 
difficulty  in  getting  iron  even  for  shot  and 
shell,  but  I  hope  this  may  for  the  present  be 
overcome  by  taking  some  from  the  Navy, 
which  under  the  altered  circumstances  may 
be  spared.  .  .  .  The  question  is  often 
asked,  '  will  we  hold  Richmond,'  to  which  my 
only  answer  is,  if  we  can  ;  it  is  purely  a  ques 
tion  of  military  power.  The  distrust  is  in 
creasing,  and  embarrasses  in  many  ways." 

Events  now  rapidly  culminated  in  the  over 
whelming  disaster  he  and  our  brave  people 
had  striven  so  energetically  to  avert.  The 
gloom  was  impenetrable. 


580  JEFFERSON  DAVIS. 

The  siege  of  Petersburg  was  hotly  pressed 
by  the  enemy,  and  there  were  many  splendid 
instances  of  gallantry,  but  for  want  of  space  I 
can  only  cite  that  of  Battery  Gregg,  which 
repulsed  assault  after  assault — the  Mississip- 
pians,  Georgians,  North  Carolinians,  and 
Louisianians,  who  had  won  honor  on  many 
fields,  fought  this,  their  last  battle,  with  most 
terrible  enthusiasm,  as  if  feeling  it  to  be  for 
them  the  last  act  in  the  great  drama. 

Two  hundred  against  5,000,  the  odds  were 
fearful,  but  they  were  animated  by  a  noble 
purpose  and  had  no  thought  of  abandoning 
their  post. 

Fort  Gregg  fell,  and  but  few  of  its  brave 
defenders  survived,  but  those  200  men  had 
placed  hors  de  combat  800  men  of  Gibbons's 
corps.* 

On  the  day  it  fell,  General  A.  P.  Hill,  our 
intrepid,  skilful,  handsome  soldier,  accom 
panied  by  a  single  courier,  while  endeavoring 
to  join  his  troops  at  Five  Forks,  ran  across 
two  Federal  soldiers.  Upon  demanding 
their  surrender,  they  shot  him  down  and 
then  retreated.  His  body  was  brought  back 
to  Petersburg  by  his  faithful  courier,!  and  the 
country's  mourning  was  proportionate  to  her 
need  of  him,  and  her  high  estimate  of  his 

*  Colonel  Miller  Owen  :   In  Camp  and  Battle. 

f  General  Gibbons  so  informed  General  Wilcox  at  Appomattox. 


N EARING    THE  END.  581 

skilful  generalship.  Our  consolation  was 
that  he  was  saved  the  pang  of  Appomattox. 
General  Lee  now  telegraphed  President 
Davis,  that  he  could  no  longer  hold  the 
lines  of  Petersburg,  and  would  leave  them 
at  night,  and  that  this  would  necessitate  the 
evacuation  of  Richmond. 

The  enemy  kept  up  an  incessant  fire  upon 
the  lines  all  day,  and  made  many  unsuccess 
ful  assaults,  ceasing  his  efforts  only  at  night 
fall. 

At  twelve  o'clock  that  night,  the  last  man 
and  the  last  gun  of  the  brave  army  that  had 
defended  the  lines  of  Petersburg  for  a  twelve 
month  passed  over  the  pontoon  bridge  and 
the  retreat  began  that  ended  at  Appomattox. 


CHAPTER   LVIII. 


THE    PRESIDENT'S  ACCOUNT   OF   THE    EVACUATION 
OF   RICHMOND. 


I  GIVE  Mr.  Davis's  story  of  the  evacuation 
of  Richmond  in  his  own  words. 

"  On  Sunday,  April  2d,  while  I  was  in  St. 
Paul's  Church,  General  Lee's  telegram  an 
nouncing  his  speedy  withdrawal  from  Peters 
burg  and  the  consequent  necessity  for  evacu 
ating  Richmond,  was  handed  me.  I  quietly 
left  the  church.  The  occurrence  probably 
attracted  attention,  but  the  people  had  been 
beleaguered,  had  known  me  too  often  to  re 
ceive  notice  of  threatened  attacks,  and  the 
congregation  of  St.  Paul's  was  too  refined,  to 
make  a  scene  at  anticipated  danger.  I  went 
to  my  office  and  assembled  the  heads  of  de 
partments  and  bureaus,  as  far  as  they  could 
be  found  on  a  day  when  all  the  offices  were 
closed,  and  gave  the  needful  instruction  for 
our  removal  that  night,  simultaneously  with 
General  Lee's  from  Petersburg.  The  event 
was  foreseen,  and  some  preparations  had 
been  made  for  it,  though,  as  it  came  sooner 


EVACUATION  OP  RICHMOND.  583 

than  was  expected,  there  was  yet  much  to  be 
done.  The  executive  papers  were  arranged 
for  removal. 

"  This  occupied  myself  and  staff  until  late 
in  the  afternoon.  By  this  time  the  report  that 
Richmond  was  to  be  evacuated  had  spread 
through  the  town,  and  many  who  saw  me 
walking  toward  my  residence  left  their  houses 
to  inquire  whether  the  report  was  true.  Upon 
my  admission  of  the  painful  fact,  qualified, 
however,  by  the  expression  of  my  hope  that 
we  should  under  better  auspices  again  return, 
they  all,  the  ladies  especially,  with  generous 
sympathy  and  patriotic  impulse  responded, 
"  If  the  success  of  the  cause  requires  you  to 
give  up  Richmond,  we  are  content." 

"  The  affection  and  confidence  of  this  noble 
people  in  the  hour  of  disaster  were  more  dis 
tressing  to  me  than  complacent  and  unjust 
censure  would  have  been.  .  .  . 

"  Being  alone  in  Richmond,  a  few  arrange 
ments  needful  for  my  personal  wants  were 
soon  made  after  reaching  home.  Then  leav 
ing  all  else  in  the  care  of  the  house-keeper,  I 
waited  until  notified  of  the  time  I  would  de 
part,  and  going  to  the  station,  started  for 
Danville,  whither  I  supposed  General  Lee 
would  proceed  with  his  army." 

Here  he  promptly  proceeded  to  put  the 
town  in  a  state  of  defence.  Energetic  efforts 


584  JEFFERSON  DAVIS. 

were  made   to    collect  supplies  for   General 
Lee's  army. 

Upon  his  arrival  at  Danville,  President 
Davis  wrote  to  Mrs.  Davis  as  follows : 

"DANVILLE,  VA.,  April  5,  1865. 

" .  .  .  I  have  in  vain  sought  to  get 
into  communication  with  General  Lee,  and 
have  postponed  writing  in  the  hope  that  I 
would  soon  be  able  to  speak  to  you  with  some 
confidence  of  the  future.  On  last  Sunday  I 
was  called  out  of  church  to  receive  a  telegram 
announcing  that  General  Lee  could  not  hold 
his  position  longer  than  till  night,  and  warning 
me  that  we  must  leave  Richmond,  as  his  army 
would  commence  retiring  that  evening. 

"  I  made  the  necessary  arrangements  and 
went  to  my  office,  and  then  to  our  house,  to 
have  the  proper  dispositions  made  there  ;  noth 
ing  had  been  done  after  you  left,  and  but  little 
could  be  done  in  the  few  hours  which  re 
mained  before  the  train  was  to  leave.  .  .  . 
The  people  here  have  been  very  kind,  and  the 
Mayor  and  Council  have  offered  assistance  in 
the  matter  of  quarters,  and  have  very  hand 
somely  declared  their  unabated  confidence. 
I  do  not  wish  to  leave  Virginia,  but  cannot 
decide  on  my  movements  until  those  of  the 
army  are  better  developed." 


EVACUATION  OF  RICHMOND.  585 


From  President  Davis  to  Mrs.  Davis. 

«  "  DANVILLE,  VA.,  April  6,  1865. 

"  .  .  .  In  my  letter  of  yesterday  I  gave 
you  all  of  my  prospects  which  could  now 
be  told,  not  having  heard  from  General  Lee, 
and  having  to  conform  my  movements  to  the 
military  necessities  of  the  case.  We  are  ar 
ranging  an  executive  office  where  the  current 
business  may  be  transacted  here,  and  do  not 
propose  at  this  time  definitely  to  fix  upon  a 
point  for  a  seat  of  government  in  the  future. 
I  am  unwilling  to  leave  Virginia,  and  do  not 
know  where,  within  her  borders,  the  requisite 
houses  for  the  departments -could  be  found/' 

While  employed  in  preparing  for  the  de 
fence  of  Danville,  no  trustworthy  information 
in  regard  to  Lee's  army  was  received,  until 
Lieutenant  John  Sargent  Wise  of  Virginia, 
who  declined  to  be  paroled  at  Appomattox, 
arrived,  from  whom  it  was  learned  that  when 
he  left  Lee's  army,  it  was  about  to  be  surren 
dered.  Other  unofficial  information  soon  fol 
lowed,  of  such  circumstantial  character  as  to 
confirm  these  reports.  How  Mr.  Davis  bore 
defeat  is  best  described  by  the  following  let 
ter,  written  by  Mr.  Davis's  faithful  friend,  M. 
H.  Clarke,  whose  opportunities  of  knowing 
the  President  were  better  than  those  of  an- 


586  JEFFERSON  DAVIS. 

other  less  intimately  associated  with  him  in  a 
time  of  great  trial. 

"  CLARKSVILLE,  TENN.,  October  6,  1890, 

"  MY  DEAR  MRS.  DAVIS  :  The  history  of 
his  country  is  indissolubly  woven  with  your 
honored  husband,  and  therefore  I  offer  my  in 
dividual  impressions  of  him  in  scenes  which  are 
yet  unwritten.  The  sum  of  such  impressions 
helps  to  give  an  idea  of  one  phase  of  his  many- 
sided  individuality,  both  simple  and  grand, 
which  rounded  out  the  perfect  man. 

"  I  came  out  of  Richmond  with  him,  the 
chief  and  confidential  clerk  of  the  Executive 
Office,  in  charge  of  the  office  papers,  a  mem 
ber  of  his  military  family,  composed  of  his  cab 
inet  and  staff;  and  I  was  close  to  his  person, 
until  he  parted  with  me  on  May  6,  1865,  near 
Sandersville,  Ga.,  and  sent  me  on,  in  charge 
of  our  wagon  train,  he  leaving  "  everything 
on  wheels  '  to  join  you. 

"  Thus  daily  and  nightly  he  was  under  my 
eyes,  which  watched  over  him  with  affection 
ate  and  earnest  solicitude. 

"  On  that  retreat  (if  so  leisurely  a  retire 
ment  could  be  so  called),  when  I  saw  an  or 
ganized  government  disintegrate  and  fall  to 
pieces  little  by  little,  until  there  was  only  left 
a  single  member  of  the  cabinet,  his  private 
secretary,  a  few  members  of  his  staff,  a  few 


EVACUATION  OF  RICHMOND.  587 

guides  and  servants,  to  represent  what  had 
been  a  powerful  government,  which  had  sus 
tained  itself  against  the  soldiery  of  all  nations 
of  the  earth  ;  his  great  resources  of  mind  and 
heart  shone  out  most  brilliantly.  Still  the 
head,  he  moved,  calm,  self-poised,  giving  way 
to  no  petulance  of  temper  at  discomfort,  ad 
vising  and  consoling,  laying  aside  all  thought 
of  self,  planning  and  doing  what  was  best, 
not  only  for  our  unhappy  and  despairing 
people,  but  uttering  gentle,  sweet  words  of 
consolation  and  wise  advice  to  every  family 
which  he  entered  as  guest ;  he  filled  my  own 
distressed  heart  so  full  of  emotions  of  love 
and  admiration,  that  it  could  hardly  contain 
them. 

"  To  me  he  then  appeared  incomparably 
grander  in  the  nobleness  of  his  great  heart 
and  head,  than  when  he  reviewed  victorious 
armies  returning  from  well-won  fields. 

o 

"  I  could  give  you  many  touching  incidents 
of  evenings  around  the  fireside,  or  noon-day 
halts  for  rest  and  refreshment,  of  the  little 
children  taken  on  his  knee,  of  tender  and 
comforting  answers  to  eager,  breathless  ques 
tions.  He  left  every  family  sanctified  by  his 
blessed  presence,  adding  his  household  words 
to  their  treasured  memories.  '  Here  was 
where  he  sat ;  here  he  slept ;  he  said  this, 
and  that.'  Along  the  route,  there  were  pleas- 


588  JEFFERSON  DA  VIS. 

ant  anecdotes  and  reminiscences  to  hearten 
up  his  following1,  and  help  the  weary,  anxious 
hours  during  those  long  days  from  April  2d 
to  May  6th.  Thoughtful  of  all  details,  he 
gave  directions  about  the  horses,  how  best 
to  feed  and  care  for  them,  remedies  for  the 
sick  ones,  how  to  cross  the  rivers,  and  was 
watchful  of  the  comfort  and  health  of  all. 
He  was  the  father  and  comforter,  while  still 
the  leader  and  director  of  affairs. 

"  Through  all  these  scenes,  the  real  man 
shone  out  and  dignified  the  mantle  of  his 
office.  I  thank  God  it  was  given  to  me  to 
see  him  as  I  did,  and  to  have  embalmed  in 
my  heart  such  sweet  and  precious  memories 
of  our  great  chief. 

"  To  me,  the  last  Confederate  officer  on 
duty,  he  gave  the  great  reward  and  honor  of 
two  personal  visits  to  my  roof-tree,  know 
ing  with  his  delicate  perception  how  greatly 
I  would  value  them,  and  the  commendation 
that  '  I  gave  true  and  faithful  service  to  the 
last/ 

"  With  profound  regard,  I  am, 
"  Faithfully  yours, 
"M.  H.  CLARKE." 


CHAPTER   LIX. 

SURRENDER    OF    LEE. 

UPON  crossing  the  Appomattox  on  the 
night  of  April  2d,  Lee's  army  marched  tow 
ard  Amelia  Court  House.  It  had  been  his 
original  intention  to  go  to  Danville,  but  being 
prevented  from  carrying  out  this  purpose,  he 
marched  toward  Lynchburg. 

Encumbered  by  a  large  wagon  train,  his 
march  was  necessarily  slow.  His  trains  were 
attacked  again  and  again  by  the  enemy's  cav 
alry,  adding  to  the  delay. 

On  April  4th  Amelia  Court  House  was 
reached  and  the  army,  being  without  rations, 
to  appease  hunger  subsisted  on  young  shoots 
just  putting  out  upon  the  trees  and  parched 
corn.* 

On  the  5th  the  retreat  was  continued  tow 
ard  Danville ;  the  intention  was  there  to  form 
a  junction  with  Johnston's  army,  but  the 
enemy  had  the  shortest  line,  and  at  Jetters- 
ville  headed  him  off,  and  the  march  was  turned 
to  Lynchburg,  where  Lee  had  expressed  his 

*  The  letter  had  been  captured  that  asked  for  rations  to  be  sent 
to  that  point. 


590  JEFFERSON  DAVIS. 

belief,  that  he  could  carry  on  the  war  for 
twenty  years. 

On  April  6th  the  rear-guard  was  attacked 
by  a  large  force  of  the  enemy,  and  Generals 
G.  W.  C.  Lee,  Ewell,  and  Anderson,  and 
many  others  were  captured. 

General  Rosser,  of  the  cavalry,  captured 
a  body  of  800  of  the  enemy,  who  had  been 
sent  by  Grant,  under  General  Read,  to  de 
stroy  the  bridge  at  Farmville  to  impede  Lee's 
march.  Read  was  killed  in  single  combat  by 
General  Dearing,  who  was  himself  mortally 
wounded. 

On  April  7th,  Farmville  was  reached,  and 
here  for  the  first  time  since  leaving  Peters 
burg  provisions  were  issued  to  the  army.  The 
enemy  still  pursuing,  the  quartermasters  be 
gan  to  burn  their  wagons,  and  whatever  they 
contained  was  destroyed. 

The  enemy  followed  closely,  crossed  the 
railroad  bridge,  and  brought  Lee  to  bay,  at 
tacked  and  were  repulsed,  and  the  retreat 
continued. 

On  the  evening  of  the  8th,  with  his  army 
wearied  and  diminished  in  numbers  by  men 
falling  by  the  wayside  who  had  never  before 
abandoned  their  colors,  but  were  now  unable 
longer  to  keep  up  with  the  retreating  column, 
General  Lee  decided,  after  conference  with 
his  corps  commanders,  that  he  would  advance 


SURRENDER    OF  LEE.  591 

the  next  day  beyond  Appomattox  Court 
House,  and  if  the  force  reported  there  should 
be  only  Sheridan's  cavalry,  disperse  it,  and 
continue  the  march  toward  Lynchburg. 

Gordon,  whose  corps  had  formed  the  rear 
guard  from  Petersburg,  and  who  had  fought 
daily  for  the  trains,  was  now  transferred  to 
the  front.  Next  morning,  April  Qth,  before 
daybreak,  he,  with  Fitz  Lee's  cavalry,  moved 
forward  to  the  attack.  He  was  confronted 
by  Sheridan's  cavalry,  and  he  drove  them 
steadily  before  him,  and  captured  two  pieces 
of  artillery.  All  seemed  going  well,  when 
Sheridan  withdrew  from  the  field,  and  then, 
like  the  lifting  of  a  curtain,  Gordon  beheld 
the  army  of  the  James  advancing  through  the 
trees  with  ten  times  his  number.  At  the  same 
time  Longstreet,  covering  the  rear,  being 
threatened  by  Meade  with  a  superior  force, 
found  it  impossible  to  reinforce  Gordon,  who, 
stained  with  powder  and  exhausted  by  his  re 
cent  battle,  reared  his  knightly  head  and  said, 
"  Tell  General  Lee  my  corps  is  reduced  to  a 
frazzle." 

Lee  then  said,  "  There  is  nothing  left  but 
for  me  to  go  and  see  General  Grant."  And  a 
flag  of  truce  was  raised  to  suspend  hostilities 
pending  the  interview  between  the  command 
ers. 

An    eye-witness    thus    describes    General 


592  JEFFERSON  DAVIS. 

Lee's  appearance  when  he  rode  off  to  see 
Grant :  "  He  was  in  full  uniform,  with  hand 
some  embroidered  belt  and  dress-sword,  tall 
black  army  hat,  and  buff  leather  gauntlets. 
His  horse,  'old  Traveller,' was  finely  groomed, 
and  his  equipments,  bridle-bit,  etc.,  were  pol 
ished  until  they  shone  like  silver ;  he  was  ac 
companied  by  Colonels  Marshall  and  Taylor, 
of  his  staff"* 

Generals  Grant  and  Lee  met  at  the  farm 
house  of  Mr.  McLean,  a  gentleman,  who  be 
fore  and  during  the  battle  of  Manassas,  July 
1 8,  1861,  had  resided  at  McLean's  Ford,  over 
Bull  Run,  and  moved  thence  to  Appomattox  to 
be  free  from  war's  alarms.  Fate  directed  the 
steps  of  both  armies  to  his  fancied  secure  and 
quiet  retreat,  and  there  the  end  was  to  come. 

A  suitable  room  having  been  prepared,  and 
the  two  generals  being  seated,  General  Lee 
opened  the  interview  by  saying :  "  General 
Grant,  I  deem  it  due  to  proper  candor  and 
frankness  to  say,  at  the  very  beginning  of 
this  interview,  that  I  am  not  willing  even  to 
discuss  any  terms  of  surrender  inconsistent 
with  the  honor  of  my  army,  which  I  am  de 
termined  to  maintain  to  the  last."  General 
Grant  replied,  "  I  have  no  idea  of  proposing 
dishonorable  terms,  General ;  but  I  would  be 

*  Colonel  Miller  Owen  ;   In  Camp  and  Battle. 


SURRENDER    OF  LEE. 


593 


glad  if  you  would  state  what  you  consider 
honorable  terms." 

General  Lee  then  briefly  stated  the  terms 
upon  which  he  would  be  willing  to  surrender. 
General  Grant  expressed  himself  satisfied 
with  them,  and  the  propositions  were  re 
duced  to  writing. 

General  Lee  read  the  propositions  care 
fully,  and  copies  were  made  of  the  paper  by 
Colonel  Marshall  and  General  Grant's  secre 
tary. 

While  this  was  being  done,  Generals  Grant 
and  Lee  exchanged  a  few  words  of  civility, 
and  the  Federal  generals  who  were  present 
were  introduced  to  General  Lee,  but  nothing 
bearing  upon  the  surrender  was  said. 

General  Grant  having  signed  his  note,  Gen 
eral  Lee  conferred  with  Colonel  Marshall, 
who  wrote  a  brief  note  of  acceptance  of  the 
terms  of  surrender  offered  which  were  as  fol 
lows  :  "  The  officers  to  give  their  individual 
parole  not  to  take  arms  against  the  Govern 
ment  of  the  United  States  until  properly  ex 
changed,  and  each  company  or  regimental 
commander  to  sign  a  like  parole  for  the  men 
of  their  commands. 

"  The  arms,  artillery,  and  public  property, 
to  be  parked  and  stacked,  and  turned  over  to 
the  officers  appointed  to  receive  them. 

"  This  will   not  embrace  the  side-arms  of 
VOL.  II.— 38 


594  JEFFERSON  DAVIS. 

the  officers,  nor  their  private  horses  or  bag 
gage- 

"  This  done,  each  officer  and  man  will  be 

allowed  to  return  to  their  homes,  not  to  be 
disturbed  by  the  United  States  authority  so 
long  as  they  observe  their  parole,  and  the 
laws  in  force  where  they  may  reside." 

General  Lee  then  rose  to  depart,  and  after 
bowing  to  the  officers  present,  went  out  upon 
the  porch,  and  beckoned  to  his  orderly  to  lead 
up  his  horse.  Descending  the  steps,  he 
paused  a  moment  and  looked  sadly  out  over 
the  valley  where  his  army  lay,  then  mounted. 
General  Grant,  who  had  followed  and  de 
scended  a  few  steps,  raised  his  hat  in  respect 
ful  salutation,  as  did  those  who  stood  upon 
the  porch.  Upon  observing  this  courtesy, 
General  Lee,  removing  his  hat,  bowed  low 
upon  his  horse's  neck  and  rode  away. 

"  As  soon  as  he  was  seen  riding  toward  his 
army,  whole  lines  of  men  rushed  down  to  the 
roadside,  and  crowded  around  him  to  shake 
his  hand.  All  tried  to  show  him  the  venera 
tion  and  esteem  in  which  they  held  him. 
Filled  with  emotion  he  essayed  to  speak,  but 
could  only  say,  '  Men,  we  have  fought 
through  the  war  together.  I  have  done  the 
best  I  could  for  you.  My  heart  is  too  full  to 
say  more/  We  all  knew  the  pathos  of  those 
simple  words,  of  that  slight  tremble  in  his 


SURRENDER   OF  LEE. 


595 


voice,  and  it  was  no  shame  on  our  manhood 
that  '  something  on  a  soldier's  cheek  washed 
off  the  stain  of  powder  ; '  that  our  tears  an 
swered  to  those  of  our  grand  old  chieftain, 
and  that  we  could  only  grasp  the  hand  of 
*  Uncle  Robert '  and  pray  '  God  help  you, 
General/  "  * 

There  were  7,892  men  of  the  army  of  North 
ern  Virginia  who  had  arms  in  their  hands  at 
the  surrender.  The  total  number,  including 
those  who  reported  afterward,  was  between 
26,000  and  27,000.  Grant's  army  numbered 
162,239.1 

In  connection  with  the  evacuation  of  Rich 
mond,  the  following  incident  is  related  by 
General  G.  W.  C.  Lee  : 

"  After  I  was  taken  prisoner  at  Sailor's 
Creek,  with  the  greater  part  of  the  commands 
of  General  Ewell  and  General  Dick  Ander 
son,  and  was  on  my  way  to  Petersburg  with 
the  officers  of  the  three  commands,  we  met 
the  United  States  engineer  brigade  under 
command  of  General  Benham,  whom  I  knew 
prior  to  the  breaking  out  of  the  war  as  one 
of  the  captains  of  my  own  corps — engineers. 

"  He  did  not  apparently  recognize  me,  and 
I  did  not  make  myself  known  to  him  ;  but  be 
gan  talking  to  General  Ewell,  in  a  loud  tone 

*  Colonel  William  Miller  Owen  :   In  Camp  and  Battle. 
f  Colonel  Taylor  :   Four  Years  with  Lee. 


596  JEFFERSON  DAVIS. 

of  voice  which  could  be  distinctly  heard  by 
all  around. 

"  I  heard  General  Benham  say,  among 
other  things,  that  '  General  Weitzel  had  found, 
soon  after  his  entrance  into  Richmond,  a  letter 
from  General  Lee  giving  the  condition  of  the 
Army  of  Northern  Virginia,  and  what  he  pro 
posed  to  do  should  it  become  necessary  to 
withdraw  from  the  lines  before  Richmond  and 
Petersburg,  and  that  the  letter  was  immediate 
ly  sent  to  General  Grant/  In  answer  to  some 
doubt  expressed  by  General  Ewell  or  someone 
else,  General  Benham  replied,  '  Oh,  there  is 
no  doubt  about  the  letter,  for  I  saw  it  myself.' 

"  I  received  the  impression  at  the  time  or 
afterward,  that  this  letter  was  a  confidential 
communication  to  the  Secretary  of  War  in 
answer  to  a  resolution  of  the  Confederate 
Congress  asking  for  information  in  1865. 
When  I  mentioned  this  statement  of  General 
Benham  to  General  Lee,  some  time  after 
ward,  the  latter  said,  '  This  accounts  for  the 
energy  of  the  enemy's  pursuit.  The  first  day 
after  we  left  the  lines  he  seemed  to  be  en 
tirely  at  sea  with  regard  to  our  movements, 
after  that,  though  I  never  worked  so  hard  in 
my  life  to  withdraw  our  armies  in  safety,  he 
displayed  more  energy,  skill,  and  judgment  in 
his  movements  than  I  ever  knew  him  to  dis 
play  before." 


SURRENDER   OF  LE&.  597 

In  requesting  the  above  statement  from 
General  G.  W.  C.  Lee,  Major  Walthall,  then 
at  Beauvoir  with  Mr.  Davis,  wrote  him  as  fol 
lows  : 

"  Besides  its  bearing  in  other  respects,  it 
may  possibly  throw  some  light  upon  the  yet 
unexplained  failure  of  General  Lee's  request 
for  supplies  at  Amelia  Court  House,  to  reach 
the  President  or  the  War  Department. 
.  ,  p.  It  seems  to  be  certain  that  neither 
the  President,  Secretary  of  War,  Quarter- 
Master  -  General,  nor  Commissary  -  General 
ever  received  the  requisition. 

"Colonels  Taylor  and  Marshall  (of  Gen 
eral  Lee's  staff)  both  remember  that  it  was 
well  understood  that  such  a  requisition  had 
been  made,  but  cannot  state  with  precision 
either  the  channels  through  which,  or  the 
functionary  to  whom,  it  was  sent." 


CHAPTER  LX. 

HONORABLE   MENTION. 

DID  my  space  permit,  I  would  pay  special 
and  glad  homage  to  the  men  who  fought  and 
nobly  sustained  defeat,  or  now  bear  their 
wounds  in  cheerful  poverty,  or  who  fell,  ex 
amples  of  all  the  noble  qualities  that  exalt  a 
nation.  But  the  scope  of  these  memoirs 
does  not  permit  more  than  a  glimpse  of  a  few 
of  the  gallant  figures  that  crowd  the  memory 
of  every  Confederate  who  looks  backward  on 
the  field  of  war. 

Louisiana  gave  us  Richard  Taylor,  who 
fought  under  the  eye  of  Stonewall  Jackson  in 
the  Valley,  and  whose  men  charged  and  took 
Shields's  batteries  at  Port  Republic,  and  who 
in  Louisiana  hurled  back  in  disorder  the  mag 
nificent  army  of  Banks. 

Bishop  General  Polk,  our  saintly  gallant 
veteran,  whose  death  left  our  country,  and 
especially  the  Church,  mourning  ;  Harry  T. 
Hayes,  Yorke,  Nicholls,  Gibson,  Gladden, 
and  Moulton,  who  charged  with  his  men  up 
the  hill  at  Winchester  into  the  fort  deemed 
impregnable,  and  put  Milroy's  army  to  flight; 


HONORABLE  MENTION.  599 

C.  E.  Fenner,*  who,  with  his  Batteries  of 
"  Donaldsonville,"  under  Maurin  and  Prosper 
Lanclry,  achieved  distinction  ;  the  Louisiana 
Guard,"  under  D'Aquin,  Thompson,  and 
Green,  all  gallant  gentlemen  whose  renown 
their  countrymen  treasure  above  price. 

From  Georgia  came  Commander  Tattnall, 
John  B.  Gordon,  that  gallant  knight  whose 
bravery  and  skill  forced  him  through  rank  to 
rank  to  the  highest  command.  Wounded  in 
every  battle,  until  at  the  last,  at  Appomattox, 
he  beat  back  Sheridan's  cavalry  and  captured 
artillery  from  him  until  within  the  last  half- 
hour's  life  of  the  Army  of  Northern  Virginia, 
when  he  reported  his  corps  fought  to  a  "  fraz 
zle."  Then,  and  then  only,  was  the  emblem 
of  truce  displayed. 

Joseph  Wheeler,  the  young  "  Murat  "  of 
the  cavalry,  General  Lawton  and  his  no  less 
distinguished  brother-in-law,  E.  Porter  Alex 
ander,  the  skilful  engineer  and  accomplished 
artillery  officer,  for  gallantry  promoted  to  be 
Brigadier-General  and  Chief  of  Artillery  of 
Longstreet's  Corps  ;  and  Hardee,  the  scien 
tific  dauntless  soldier ;  Walker,  David  R. 
Jones,  Young,  Denning,  Colquitt,  and  a  shin 
ing  list  I  have  riot  space  to  name. 

Mississippi  gave  her  Ferguson,  Barksdale, 
Martin,  the  two  Adams,  Featherston,  Posey, 

*  Now  Associate  Justice  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  Louisiana. 


6oo  JEFFERSON  D 

and  Fizer,  who  led  an  army  on  the  ramparts 
of  Knoxville  but  left  his  arm  there,  and  a  host 
of  gallant  men. 

Alabama  sent  us  Deas,  Law,  Grade,  and 
James  Longstreet,  dubbed  by  Lee  upon  the 
field  of  Sharpsburg  his  "  old  war  horse,"  a 
stubborn  fighter,  who  held  the  centre  there 
with  a  scant  force  and  a  single  battery  of 
artillery  ;  the  gallant  Twenty-seventh  regiment 
of  North  Carolina  troops,  under  Colonel 
Cooke,  stood  as  support,  without  ammunition, 
but  with  flags  waving  to  deceive  the  enemy. 
Three  times  he  repulsed  the  attacks  of  a 
whole  corps.  When  the  cannoneers  were 
shot  down,  and  help  was  needed  at  the  guns, 
his  staff  dismounted  and  took  their  places. 

At  Petersburg,  when  the  end  was  near,  and 
Lee's  lines  were  broken,  he  hurried  with  the 
division  of  General  Field  to  the  breach,  and 
formed  his  troops  across  the  line  of  the 
enemy's  victorious  approach,  held  them  at 
arm's  length  until  midnight,  when  the  last 
man  and  the  last  gun  of  Lee's  army  had 
crossed  the  Appomattox,  and  he  became  like 
Marshal  Ney,  the  rear-guard  of  the  once 
"  Grand  Army  ;  "  and  Rodes,  ever  in  the  front, 
who  laid  down  his  life  at  Winchester  while 
led  by  the  indomitable  Early,  he  was  fight 
ing  the  overwhelming  force  of  Sheridan. 

"  The  gallant   Pelham,"  the  boy  artillerist 


HONORABLE  MENTION.  &>i 

who  with  one  gun  took  position  on  the  left 
flank  of  Burnside's  army  at  Fredericksburg, 
and  held  his  ground,  annoyed,  and  threw  into 
confusion  the  troops  of  the  enemy  advancing 
to  charge  Jackson's  forces  upon  the  hills  at 
Hamilton's  Crossing.  Just  after  receiving 
his  promotion  as  Lieutenant-Colonel  of  artil 
lery,  "  for  gallantry  and  skill,"  he  met  his 
death,  leading  a  squadron  in  a  charge.  Shout 
ing  "  Forward,  boys  !  forward  to  victory  and 
glory  !  "  a  fragment  of  shell  penetrated  his 
skull,  and  his  brave  spirit  took  its  flight. 

Tennessee  gave  us  Forrest,  the  great  lead 
er  of  cavalry,  Frazier,  Cheatham,  Jackson, 
Green,  A.  J.  Vaughn,  O.  F.  Strahl,  Archer, 
and  the  last,  but  not  least,  on  this  very  incom 
plete  list,  Cadmus  Wilcox,  who  led  his  brig 
ade  at  Gettysburg  on  July  2d,  right  into  the 
enemy's  lines,  capturing  prisoners  and  guns, 
and  only  failing  in  great  results  from  lack  of 
the  support  looked  for. 

Kentucky  gave  us  John  B.  Hood,  one  of 
the  bravest  and  most  dashing  division  com 
manders  in  the  army.  Always  in  the  front, 
he  lost  a  limb  at  Chickamauga;  John  C. 
Breckinridge,  "  Charley  "  Field,  S.  B.  Buck- 
ner,  Morgan,  Duke,  and  Preston  ;  the  latter 
with  his  fine  brigades  under  Gracie,  Trigg, 
and  Kelly,  gave  the  enemy  the  coup  de  grdce 
which  terminated  the  battle  of  Chickamauga. 


602  JEFFERSON  DAVIS. 

Missouri  gave  us  Bowen,  and  Green,  and 
Price,  that  grand  old  man,  worshipped  and 
followed  to  the  death  by  his  brave  patriotic 
Missourians. 

From  Arkansas  came  the  gallant  Cleburne, 
McNair,  McRea,  and  Finnegan,  the  hero  of 
Olustee,  Fla.,  and  Ben  McCullough,  the  old 
Indian  fighter  who  yielded  his  life  on  the  bat 
tle-field  of  Elkhorn. 

From  Maryland  came  brave  Commander 
Buchanan,  Generals  Trimble,  Elzey,  Charles 
Winder,  who  laid  down  his  life  upon  the  field, 
and  George  Stewart,  Bradley  Johnson,  who 
proved  himself  a  very  Bayard  in  feats  of 
arms,  and  our  Colonel  of  the  Signal  Corps, 
William  Norris,  who,  by  systematizing  the 
signals  which  he  displayed  under  the  most 
furious  fire,  rendered  inestimable  service.  To 
Maryland  we  owe  also  Snowdon  Andrews, 
the  brave  and  skilled  artillery  officer,  who  was 
so  desperately  wounded  upon  the  field  of 
Cedar  Run  that  his  surgeon  reported  "  hard 
ly  enough  of  his  body  left  to  hold  his  soul." 

South  Carolina  gave  us  Stephen  Elliott,  who 
remained  in  beleaguered  Sumter,  and  when 
invited  to  take  rest  only  did  so  because  pro 
moted  and  ordered  elsewhere ;  the  Hamp 
tons,  Kershaw,  Hugers,  Ramseur,  M.  C.  But 
ler,  Bee,  Bonham,  Bartow,  Drayton,  the  Pres- 
tons,  "  Dick"  Anderson,  Jenkins,  and  Stephen 


HONORABLE  MENTION.  603 

D.  Lee,  commander  of  artillery  in  Virginia 
and  corps  commander  in  the  Army  of  Tennes 
see,  a  body  of  fine  gentlemen  who  illustrated 
the  proverbial  daring  of  their  class.  She  also 
gave  Colonel  Lucius  B.  Northrop,  a  gallant 
soldier  of  the  old  army,  and  one  who,  as 
Commissary  General,  possessed  Mr.  Davis's 
confidence  unto  the  end  of  our  struggle. 

North  Carolina  sent  Pettigrew,  who  com 
manded  Heth's  division  in  the  charge  at  Get 
tysburg,  wounded  there,  he  lost  his  life  be 
fore  recrossing  the  Potomac;  and  D.  H.  Hill, 
Holmes,  Hoke,  Pender,  Cooke,  Ransom, 
Lane,  Scales,  Green,  Daniel,  and  the  roll  of 
honor  stretches  out  a  shining  list  as  I  gaze 
into  the  past.  "  When  shall  their  glory  fade  ?  " 

Texas  gave  us  Albert  Sidney  Johnston,  and 
Gregg,  Robertson,  William  "  old  tige  "  whom 
his  soldiers  loved  Cabbell ;  it  is  easier  to  spe 
cify  who  was  not  a  brilliant  jewel  in  the  gor 
geous  crown  of  glory  than  to  name  them  all. 

Florida  gave  Kirby  Smith  and  Anderson 
and  many  other  gallant  and  true  men. 

And  "  Old  Virginia  "  gave  us  her  Lees, 
Jackson,  Early,  Ewell,  Pickett,  Ed.  Johnson, 
Archer,  Heth,  Lomax,  Bearing,  Ashby,  Mum- 
ford,  Rosser,  the  brothers  Pegram  ;  and  the 
gallant  men  who  fell  on  the  heights  of  Get 
tysburg,  Garnett,  Kemper,  and  Armistead  ; 
and  Dabney  H.  Maury,  who  with  7,600  in- 


fantry  and  artillery  held  Mobile  for  eighteen 
days  against  General  Canby.  Had  our  cause 
succeeded,  Virginia's  gallant  son  would  have 
been  promoted  to  be  Lieutenant-General. 

A.  P.  Hill,  the  fierce  young  fighter,  who, 
famous  in  many  battles,  came  opportunely 
from  Harper's  Ferry  to  Sharpsburg,  beat  back 
Burnside,  and  saved  the  flank  of  Lee's  army, 
but  fell  at  last  on  the  field  of  Petersburg  ;  from 
the  first  hour  to  his  last  not  only  doing  his 
best,  but  all  that  man  could  accomplish,  to 
serve  his  country. 

Patriotic  enthusiasm  could  present  no 
grander  picture  than  that  of  General  Wade 
Hampton,  a  fit  representative  man  of  the  much 
ridiculed  but  living  and  beloved  chivalry  of 
the  South,  who,  while  looking  through  his 
glass  during  a  cavalry  battle  near  Petersburg, 
saw  his  son  Preston,  who,  possessed  of  great 
personal  beauty,  much  mind,  and  keen  wit, 
had  just  reached  his  twenty-first  year,  fall 
dead  on  the  field,  and  his  brother  Wade  stoop 
over  him  and  fall  across  his  beautiful  young 
brother's  body.  The  bereaved  father  thought 
them  both  slain,  and  unsheathing  his  sword, 
rode  straight,  not  to  receive  their  dying  words, 
but  for  the  hottest  part  of  the  battle,  and 
fought  with  all  his  might  in  a  hand  to  hand 
encounter,  and  himself  came  out — probably  the 
only  division  commander  in  the  world  to 


HONORABLE  MENTION.  605 

whom  a  like  incident  has  occurred — with  a 
deep  sabre  cut  which  accentuates  rather  than 
mars  the  noble  contour  of  his  face. 

Or  what  could  be  more  touching  than  the 
meeting  of  General  Lee  with  his  young  son 
Robert,  on  the  bloody  field  of  Fredericksburg, 
mounted  on  one  of  the  artillery  caissons  of 
the  battery  in  which  he  was  serving  as  a 
private.  He  was  so  begrimed  with  smoke 
and  powder  that  the  General  did  not  know 
his  boy.  Robert  asked,  "  General,  are  you 
going  to  put  us  in  again  ?  "  u  Yes,"  said  his 
father,  "  but  my  boy,  who  are  you  ? " 
"  Why,  do  you  not  know  me,  father  ?  I  am 
Robbie."  "  God  defend  you,  my  son,"  an 
swered  the  General,  "  you  must  go  in  again." 


CHAPTER   LXI. 

THE   WASHINGTON  ARTILLERY   OF   NEW   ORLEANS. 

THE  Richmond  people  remember  well  the 
Washington  Artillery  of  New  Orleans,  their 
fresh  uniforms,  and  the  splendid  crimson  and 
gold  standard  with  its  silver  cross  cannon 
under  which,  before  they  "  smelt  powder," 
they  marched  in  review  before  the  President 
on  Union  Hill.  These,  and  other  New 
Orleans  companies,  gave  dinners,  danced,  and 
sung,  and  "  did  the  thing  handsomely  "  wher 
ever  money  was  to  be  spent  or  amusement 
was  to  be  found  during  their  brief  visits  from 
the  field  ;  but  while  fighting  their  sixty  battles 
they  performed  prodigies  of  valor,  "  all  that 
was  left  of  them." 

But  there  was  a  different  look  in  their  eyes 
after  facing  death  so  often ;  the  lack  of  food 
had  reduced  their  physique,  but  the  laugh  was 
as  ready  as  ever,  their  well-brushed,  thread 
bare  uniforms  were  as  natty  and  worn  with  as 
jaunty  a  grace  as  when  newly  donned.  Their 
hospitality,  albeit  they  could  offer  only  pota 
toes  or  beans,  was  unstinted. 

The  Natchez  troops  marched  out  like  the 


t^        ^-^         ^ u — - 

J      E.KIRBY  SMITH.      8 

Sj"  "TT 

CONFEDERATE  GENERALS. 


- 


THE    WASHINGTON  ARTILLERY.  607 

Queen's  Guards,  a  "  Lah  de  dah  "  assemblage 
of  handsome  young  gentlemen  born  to  wealth 
and  position,  who  recognized  their  duty  to 
bear  their  share  of  blows  because  it  befitted 
their  birth.  When  the  bloody  work  began, 
however,  they  pushed  in  to  the  thickest  of 
the  fight,  and  every  woman  and  man  in  Mis 
sissippi  thanked  God  for  the  place  of  their 
nativity. 

Barksdale's  brigade,  on  December  n,  1862, 
at  Fredericksburg,  prevented  Burnside's  army 
of  100,000  men  from  building  their  pontoon 
bridges,  and,  although  bombarded  by  150 
pieces  of  artillery,  held  their  position  from  7 
A.M.  to  7  P.M.  The  same  Brigade,  composed  of 
the  Thirteenth,  Seventeenth,  Eighteenth,  and 
Twenty-first  Mississippi  regiments,  numbering 
1,308  men,  behind  the  stone  wall  at  the  foot 
of  Marye's  Hill,  repulsed  Sedgwick's  corps, 
numbering  22,000.  Under  cover  of  a  flag  of 
truce,  the  enemy  charged  again  the  "  thin 
gray  line,"  and  overran  it  through  weight  of 
numbers,  killing  or  capturing  all  the  brave 
defenders,  with  a  loss  to  themselves  of 
nearly  5,000  men.  The  pride  we  felt  in  their 
steady,  dauntless  courage  cannot  be  express 
ed  in  words. 

Captain  John  Taylor  Wood,  C.  S.  N.,  up 
held  the  name  and  fame  of  his  grandsire, 
General  Zachary  Taylor.  He  is  the  son  of 


608  JEFFERSON  DAVIS. 

the  late  Surgeon-General  R.  C.  Wood,  U.  S. 
A.,  than  whom  a  better  and  braver  man  never 
lived.  Commander  Wood  destroyed  several 
transports  and  vessels  of  the  enemy,  among 
them  the  ship  Rappahannock,  of  1,200  tons  ; 
he  assisted  in  preparing  the  Virginia  (Mer- 
imac)  for  service,  took  part  in  the  fight  be 
tween  the  Virginia  and  the  Congress,  Cum 
berland,  Wabash,  Monitor,  and  others,  and 
served  efficiently  during  the  enemy's  attempt 
to  pass  Drury's  Bluff. 

In  the  summer  of  1863,  Lieutenant  Wood 
succeeded  in  capturing  in  Chesapeake  Bay 
the  United  States  gun-boats  Reliance,  Satel 
lite,  and  a  number  of  other  vessels,  and  was 
promoted  to  be  Commander  in  the  Navy. 

At  Newbern,  N.  C.,  Commander  Wood, 
with  his  boat  squadron,  captured  the  United 
States  gun-boat  Underwriter  under  the  guns 
of  two  of  the  enemy's  forts.  He  destroyed 
two  gun-boats  at  Plymouth,  N.  C.,  when 
General  Hoke  captured  that  place  in  1864. 

In  August,  1864,  the  Atlanta  cruised  off 
the  north  coast  of  the  United  States  in  the 
neighborhood  of  New  York  and  Boston,  and 
Commander  Wood  captured  over  thirty  of 
the  enemy's  vessels.  For  these  services  he 
received  the  thanks  of  the  Confederate  Con 
gress,  and  was  promoted  to  be  Post  Captain. 
Throughout  all  these  hot  encounters  his  piety 


THE    WASHINGTON  ARTILLERY.  609 

and  gentle  consideration  for  others  was  con 
spicuous  on  every  field. 

The  gallant  Captain  Wilkinson's  deeds 
pressed  close  upon  those  of  his  friend  and 
brother-officer,  and  the  world  will  not  for 
get  Commanders  Semmes,  Maffitt,  Pegram, 
Maury,  Loyal,  Jones,  and  other  naval  heroes 
who  are  too  rich  in  fame  to  need  my  mite. 

None  fought  more  gallantly  than  Heros  von 
Borcke,  an  Austrian  officer  of  distinction,  who 
came  to  offer  his  sword,  and  was  assigned  to 
J.  E.  B.  Stuart's  cavalry,  and  served  with  con 
spicuous  bravery  until  severely  wounded  ;  he 
left  the  service  with  broken  health.  The 
President,  loath  to  relinquish  him,  wrote  to 
acknowledge  the  aid  he  had  given,  and  sent 
him  on  a  mission  to  England. 

o 

But  Confederate  women  render  their  hearts' 
best  homage  to  the  gallant  nameless  dead, 
the  "  high  privates  "  of  our  splendid  army,  and 
to  those  survivors  who  wear  their  "  hodden 
gray  "  with  proud  memories  of  sacrifices  made 
and  duty  faithfully  performed,  for  no  other 
reward  than  an  approving  conscience,  who 
labor  for  their  daily  bread  without  a  murmur, 
and  are  as  ready  now  to  affirm  the  justice  of 
their  cause  as  they  are  to  fight  for  the  United 
States.  They  do  not  say  we  believed  we 
were  right  then,  but  they  loudly  proclaim  we 
knew  it  then  and  know  it  now, 
VOL.  II.— 39 


CHAPTER    LXII. 

LEAVING    CHARLOTTE.— THE    RUMORS    OF   SURREN 
DER. 

As  time  wore  on  all  the  news  we  received 
was  of  that  kind  which  is  reputed  to  travel 
fast,  but  did  not  over  the  broken  railways,  and 
tangled  and  trailing  telegraph  wires.  At  last 
came  the  dreadful  rumor  that  General  Lee 
was  retreating,  and  the  President  and  his 
cabinet  were  coming  to  Charlotte  to  meet 
General  Johnston  and  his  army.  I  felt  then 
that  I  must  obey  Mr.  Davis's  solemn  charge, 
and  also  that  I  might  embarrass  him  sadly  by 
remaining  there. 

That  night  the  treasure  train  of  the  Con 
federacy  and  that  of  the  Richmond  banks, 
escorted  by  the  midshipmen  under  the  accom 
plished  and  gallant  Captain  Parker,  came 
through  Charlotte  ;  and  as  among  the  escort 
were  my  brother  Jefferson  and  Mr.  Davis's 
grandnephew,  and  there  seemed  to  be  a  panic 
imminent,  I  decided  to  go  with  my  children 
and  servants  on  the  extra  train  provided  for 
the  treasure,  which  could  only  run  as  far  as 
Chester,  as  the  road  was  broken. 


JEFFERSON  DAVIS  HOWELL. 


LEAVING    CHARLOTTE.  611 

We  reached  there  in  the  morning  and  were 
met  by  Generals  John  S.  Preston,  Hood, 
and  Chesnut.  General  Preston  said,  "  We 
of  this  day  have  no  future,  but  we  can  worth 
ily  bear  defeat ;  anything  that  man  can  do  I 
will  for  you  or  the  President."  General  Hood 
said :  "  If  I  have  lost  my  leg  and  also  lost 
my  freedom,  I  am  miserable  indeed."  And 
General  Chesnut  bowed  his  dignified  head 
and  said  :  "  Let  me  help  you  if  I  can,  it  is 
probably  the  last  service  I  can  render."  And 
these  three  types  of  Southern  gentlemen 
formed  a  noble  picture  as  they  stood  calm  in 
the  expectation  of  our  great  woe. 

With  much  trouble  an  ambulance  was  se 
cured  for  my  family  and  a  wagon  for  our  lug 
gage,  and  after  dark  I  started  to  follow  the 
treasure  train  on  the  road  to  Abbeville,  The 
ambulance  was  too  heavily  laden  in  the  deep 
mud,  and  as  my  maid  was  too  weak  to  walk 
and  my  nurse  was  unwilling,  I  walked  five 
miles  in  the  darkness  in  mud  over  my  shoe 
tops,  with  my  cheerful  little  baby  in  my  arms. 
There  were  various  alarms  of  "  Yankees  "  at 
Frog  Level  and  other  places  on  the  road,  but 
about  one  o'clock  we  reached  in  safety  a  little 
church  in  which  the  treasure  guardians  had 
taken  refuge.  A  little  bride  who  had  accom 
panied  her  husband,  who  was  with  the  bank 
treasure,  told  me  kindly,  "We  are  lying  on 


612  JEFFERSON  DAVIS. 

the  floor,  but  have  left  the  communion  table 
for  you  out  of  respect,  but  the  additional  com* 
fort  of  the  table  did  not  tempt  one  to  commit 
sacrilege."  After  a  weary  night  we  moved 
on  at  daylight. 

Captain  Parker  was  exceedingly  kind  and 
attentive  to  us.  We  held  no  communications 
with  the  actual  guardians  of  either  the  Con 
federate  or  bank  treasury. 

The  price  for  provisions  on  the  road,  from 
the  hostelries  and  even  the  private  houses, 
was  fifty  cents  or  one  dollar  for  a  biscuit,  and 
the  same  for  a  glass  of  milk.  It  was  difficult 
to  feed  my  children  except  when  we  reached 
the  house  of  some  devoted  Confederate,  and 
then  I  did  not  like  to  avail  of  their  generosity. 

Finally,  when  it  seemed  we  had  endured 
fatigue  enough  to  have  put  a  "  girdle  round 
the  earth,"  more  dead  than  alive,  we  reached 
Abbeville,  where  our  welcome  was  as  warm 
as  though  we  had  something  to  confer.  The 
treasure  trains,  without  halting,  moved  on 
to  Washington,  Ga. 

Mr.  Armistead  Burt  and  his  wife  received 
us  in  their  fine  house  with  a  generous,  tender 
welcome,  though  fully  expecting  that,  for  hav 
ing  given  us  shelter,  it  would  be  burnt  by  the 
enemy.  There  we  remained  for  a  few  days 
resting,  and  in  painful  expectation  of  worse 
news.  It  came,  as  we  feared,  all  too  soon. 


LEAVING   CHARLOTTE.  613 

The  following  letter  was  received,  and  a 
despatch  announcing  General  Lee's  surren 
der. 

"AUGUSTA,  April  21,  1865. 

"  MADAME  :  Herewith  I  send  despatch  just 
received,  and  which  I  hope  will  reach  you 
promptly. 

"  I  send  you  copy  of  despatch  announcing 
the  suspension  of  arms. 

"  I  have  the  honor  to  be, 
"Very  respectfully, 

"  Your  obedient  servant, 

"  A.  D.  FRY/' 

A  specimen  of  wild  rumors  is  appended  to 
show  the  cloud  that  covered  .us  with  thick 
darkness. 

"  COKESBURY  DEPOT,  Saturday  Afternoon,  2.30  o'clock  P.M., 

"April  22,  1865. 

"  MRS.  DAVIS. 

"  MADAME  :  I  have  the  honor,  in  compliance 
with  my  offer,  to  write  from  this  place.  I 
presume  you  heard  the  rumors  of  yesterday, 
viz.,  that  an  armistice  of  sixty  days  had  been 
agreed  upon,  and  General  Grant  had  sent 
couriers  to  the  different  raiding  parties  to  that 
effect ;  that  commissioners  to  negotiate  terms 
had  been  appointed,  consisting  on  our  part  of 
Generals  Lee,  Johnston,  and  Beauregard,  and 
on  the  part  of  the  Yankees  of  Grant,  Sher- 


6 14  JEFFERSON  DAVIS. 

man,  and  Thomas  ;  also  that  the  French  fleet 
had  attacked  the  Yankee  gun-boats  at  New 
Orleans,  and  had  taken  the  city.  One  pas 
senger  said  that  President  Davis  left  Ninety- 
six  Station  by  stage  for  Augusta,  Ga. ;  another 
that  he  had  an  escort  of  three  hundred  cav 
alry,  and  would  come  the  route  by  Abbeville. 
As  all  the  above  are  reports,  I  know  nothing 
positive  of  their  reliability.  The  Newbury 
train  is  now  one  hour  and  a  half  behind  time. 
If  it  arrives  in  time  for  the  Abbeville  train,  I 
will  add  a  postscript  if  there  is  anything  new. 
If  I  can  do  anything  for  you,  you  have  but  to 
command  me.  .  .  .  P.S.  3.30.  The  New 
bury  train  is  in.  I  saw  Mr.  Fleetwood,  from 
Columbia.  He  says  he  conversed  with  Col 
onel  Urquhart,  of  the  army,  that  the  armistice 
is  positively  so,  and  he  had  seen  orders  to 
the  Yankee  raiders  to  that  effect.  He  was 
told  that  President  Davis  was  escorted  by 
General  Geary,  and  was  on  his  way  to  Au 
gusta,  Ga. 

"  Very  truly  your  obedient  servant, 

"  A.  A.  FRANKLIN  HILL, 
" Major  First  Georgia  Regulars'' 

A  courier  arrived  with  the  news  that  Gen 
eral  Johnston's  army  were  engaged  in  the 
preliminary  arrangements  for  surrender.  He 
also  informed  me  of  Mr.  Davis's  arrival  in 


LEAVING    CHARLOTTE.  615 

Charlotte,  and  of  the  announcement  made  to 
him  there  of  the  assassination  of  Mr.  Lincoln. 
I  burst  into  tears,  the  first  I  had  shed,  which 
flowed  from  the  mingling  of  sorrow  for  the 
family  of  Mr.  Lincoln,  and  a  thorough  realiza 
tion  of  the  inevitable  results  to  the  Confeder 
ates,  now  that  they  were  at  the  mercy  of  the 
Federals. 

I  felt  unwilling,  if  all  was  lost  east  of  the 
Mississippi  River,  to  hamper  the  Confederate 
President  in  his  efforts  to  reach  the  trans-Mis 
sissippi,  and  there  by  resistance  enforce  better 
terms  than  our  conquerors  seemed  willing  to 
grant. 

Our  friend,  Colonel  Henry  Leovy,  kindly 
consented  to  meet  him  at  the  Saluda  River 
with  a  note,  to  say  that  I  would  not  wait 
his  coming,  but  try  to  get  out  of  the  country 
as  best  I  might,  and  meet  him  in  Texas  or 
elsewhere.  This  letter  Mr.  Leovy  delivered, 
but  Mr.  Davis  pushed  on  to  Abbeville,  hoping 
to  see  us  before  our  departure.  We  had, 
however,  left  there  for  Washington,  Ga.,  on 
the  morning  of  the  day  he  arrived. 

Mr.  Harrison  arrived  that  day  and  brought 
me  a  telegram  as  follows,  which  he  had  re 
ceived  from  Mr.  Davis,  who  had  asked  him 
to  join  and  take  care  of  us. 


616  JEFFERSON  DAVIS. 

t(  CHARLOTTE,  N.  C,  April  24,  1865. 

"B.  N.  HARRISON,  Chester,  S.  C. 

"  The  hostile  Government  reject  the  pro 
posed  settlement,  and  order  active  operations 
to  be  resumed  in  forty-eight  hours  from  noon 
to-day. 

"  JEFFERSON  DAVIS." 

About  half  an  hour's  travel  out  of  Abbeville, 
our  wagons  met  the  treasure  of  the  Virginia 
banks  returning.  After  a  few  words  of  greet 
ing  to  the  officer  in  command,  the  train  moved 
on,  and  we  continued  our  journey  to  Wash 
ington. 

We  found  the  whole  town  in  a  state  of 
most  depressing  disorder.  General  and  Mrs. 
Elzey  called  to  see  me,  and  said  that  when  the 
news  of  the  surrender  was  received  there,  the 
quartermasters'  and  commissaries'  stores  had 
been  sacked,  and  Mrs.  Elzey  laughingly  told 
me  she  had  picked  up  a  card  of  pearl  buttons 
in  the  street  which  General  Elzey  insisted  she 
should  throw  down  again,  as  it  was  "  un 
doubtedly  public  property."  General  Toombs 
called  with  many  kind  offers  of  hospitality, 
but  I  was  anxious  to  get  off  before  Mr.  Davis 
could  reach  Washington,  fearful  that  his  un 
easiness  about  our  safety  would  cause  him  to 
keep  near  our  train  and  of  his  being  pursued 
by  the  enemy.  My  young  brother  Jefferson 


LEAVING   CHARLOTTE.  617 

had  been  paroled  at  Augusta,  and  came  at 
once  to  join  and  offer  me  his  services. 

Colonel  Moody,  a  Mississippi  lawyer  who 
was  going  home,  and  Colonel  Moran,  of  Lou 
isiana,  volunteered  to  accompany  us  and  take 
charge  of  the  party.  Mr.  Harrison,  who  had 
rejoined  us  at  Abbeville,  was  travelling  with 
us  ;  he  had  been  an  inmate  of  our  house  so 
long  that  we  were  mutually  attached,  and  he 
rendered  every  service  in  his  power.  Added 
to  these  were  Messrs.  Hathaway,  Messick, 
and  Winder  Monroe,  all  of  Kentucky,  and 
some  paroled  Confederate  soldiers  who  drove 
the  ambulance  and  wagons.  We  moved  out 

o 

on  the  afternoon  of  the  same  day  that  we 
reached  Washington,  and  made  ten  miles 
that  afternoon. 

As  soon  as  our  tents  were  pitched,  while 
we  were  trying  to  get  our  tea  in  the  awkward 
manner  of  townspeople  camping  out,  Mr. 
Davis's  riephew-in-law,  Mr.  Richard  Nugent, 
came  up  with  a  note  from  him  bidding  fare 
well  and  expressing  his  bitter  regret  at  not 
seeing  us  at  Washington  for  consultation,  and 
offering  a  few  words  of  counsel.  Mr.  Nugent 
took  back  an  answer  immediately,  begging 
him  not  to  seek  an  interview,  and  the  ground 
felt  very  hard  that  night  as  I  lay  looking  into 
the  gloom  and  unable  to  pierce  it  even  by 
conjectures,  The  next  day  we  moved  on  and 


6i8  JEFFERSON  DAVIS. 

met  crowds  of  soldiers  walking"  home,  some 
very  foot-sore  and  depressed,  but  generally 
cordial.  I  invited  as  many  as  would  to  take  a 
drive  in  one  or  the  other  of  the  wagons  or  the 
ambulance. 

On  the  third  day  one  of  our  party  found 
we  were  to  be  halted  by  a  number  of  dis 
organized  mounted  Confederates,  to  "  have  a 
divide,"  as  they  thought  we  were  quartermas 
ters  going  off  with  treasure.  After  we  halted 
for  the  night  the  party  came  up  to  the  camp 
fire,  and  the  commander  of  it  recognized  me 
as  having  dressed  his  wounded  arm  in  Rich 
mond.  After  many  protestations  of  regard, 
they  gave  us  a  safe-conduct  to  pass  by  another 
party  whom  we  met  on  the  cross  roads.  I 
explained  to  them  that  in  lieu  of  money  I  had 
a  few  groceries,  my  clothes,  and  nothing  more. 
One  of  them  said,  "  I  am  sorry  it  is  not 
money,  you  could  have  kept  it."  Now  we 
began  to  see  branches  of  trees  newly  broken 
lying  in  the  road  ;  evidently,  from  the  number 
of  them,  they  indicated  something,  and  it 
gave  the  gentlemen  in  charge  much  uneasi 
ness.  Colonel  Moody  communicated  his  sus 
picions  to  me,  that  we  were  followed  by  some 
enemy. 

At  last,  after  a  long  day's  journey,  we 
halted  about  sundown,  and  my  coachman  went 
into  town  for  some  milk.  A  party  of  men 


LEAVING   CHARLOTTE.  619 

met  him,  took  the  mule  that  he  was  riding, 
and  told  him  that  they  would  have  all  the 
mules  and  horses  that  night.  Our  dread  was 
great  of  being  left  helpless  in  the  woods  with 
out  transportation.  Upon  hearing  this  cir 
cumstance  the  gentlemen  parked  the  wagons 
and  tied  the  horses  and  mules  inside.  They 
divided  into  watches  so  as  to  meet  the  rob 
bers  before  they  had  made  an  assault. 

Mr.  Davis  has  related  the  rest  of  the  jour 
ney  better  than  another  could. 


CHAPTER  LXIII. 

THE    JOURNEY   TO    GREENSBOROUGH.— THE    SUR. 
RENDER   OF   JOHNSTON. 

THE  President  and  his  party  moved  to 
Greensborough.  The  President  telegraphed 
to  General  Johnston  from  Danville  that  Lee 
had  surrendered,  and  on  arriving  at  Greens- 
borough,  conditionally  requested  him  to  meet 
him  there  for  conference,  where  General  Beau- 
regard  had  his  headquarters.  Mr.  Davis 
wrote  in  substance  of  the  meeting  : 

"  In  compliance  with  my  request,  General 
Johnston  came  to  Greensborough,  N.  C.,  and 
with  General  Beauregard  met  me  and  most  of 
my  Cabinet  there.  Though  sensible  of  the 
effect  of  the  surrender  of  the  Army  of  North 
ern  Virginia,  and  the  consequent  discourage 
ment  which  these  two  events  would  produce, 
I  did  not  despair.  We  had  effective  armies 
in  the  field,  and  a  rich  and  productive  territory 
both  east  and  west  of  the  Mississippi,  whose 
citizens  had  shown  no  desire  to  surrender. 
Ample  supplies  had  been  collected  in  the  rail 
road  depots,  and  much  still  remained  to  be 
placed  at  our  disposal  when  needed. 


THE    JOURNEY  TO   GREENSBOROUGH.     621 

"  At  the  first  conference  of  the  members  of 
the  Cabinet  and  the  generals,  General  John 
ston  expressed  a  desire  to  open  a  correspond 
ence  with  General  Sherman,  with  a  view  to 
suspend  hostilities,  and  thereby  to  permit  the 
civil  authorities  to  enter  into  the  needful  ar 
rangements  to  end  the  war.  As  long  as  we 
were  able  to  keep  the  field,  I  had  never 
contemplated  a  surrender,  except  upon  the 
terms  of  a  belligerent,  and  never  expected  a 
Confederate  army  to  surrender  while  it  was 
able  either  to  fight  or  to  retreat.  Lee  had 
surrendered  only  when  it  was  impossible  for 
him  to  do  either,  and  had  proudly  rejected 
Grant's  demand  until  he  found  himself  sur 
rounded  and  his  line  of  retreat  cut  off.  I  was 
not  hopeful  of  negotiations  between  the  civil 
authorities  of  the  United  States  and  those  of 
the  Confederacy,  believing  that,  even  if  Sher 
man  should  agree  to  such  a  proposition,  his 
Government  would  not  ratify  it.  After  having 
distinctly  announced  my  opinions,  I  yielded 
to  the  judgment  of  my  constitutional  advisers, 
and  consented  to  permit  Johnston  to  hold  a 
conference  with  Sherman. 

"  Johnston  left  for  his  army  headquarters, 
and  I,  expecting  that  he  would  soon  take  up 
his  line  of  retreat,  which  his  superiority  in 
cavalry  would  protect  from  harassing  pursuit, 
proceeded  with  my  Cabinet  and  staff  to  Char- 


622  JEFFERSON  DAVIS. 

lotte,  N.  C.  On  the  way,  a  despatch  was  re 
ceived  from  him,  stating  that  Sherman  had 
agreed  to  a  conference,  and  asking  that  the 
Secretary  of  War,  General  Breckinridge, 
should  return  to  co-operate  in  it. 

"  When  we  arrived  at  Charlotte,  on  April 
1 8,  1865,  we  received  a  telegram  announcing 
the  assassination  of  President  Lincoln.  A 
vindictive  policy  was  speedily  substituted  for 
his,  which  avowedly  was  to  procure  a  surren 
der  of  our  forces  in  the  field  upon  any  terms, 
to  stop  the  further  effusion  of  blood. 

"  On  the  same  clay,  Sherman  and  Johnston 
united  on  a  basis  of  agreement,  which  con 
tained  the  following  provisions  : 

"'That  both  of  the  contending  parties 
should  maintain  their  status  quo  until  either 
of  the  Commanding  Generals  should  give  not 
ice  of  its  termination,  and  allow  reasonable 
time  to  his  opponent. 

"  '  That  the  Confederate  armies  should  be 
disbanded  and  conducted  to  the  several  State 
capitals,  and  deposit  their  arms  and  public 
property  in  the  State  arsenal;  each  officer  and 
man  to  file  an  agreement  to  cease  from  acts  of 
war,  and  abide  by  the  action  of  the  Federal 
and  State  authorities. 

"  '  That  there  should  be  recognition  by  the 
Executive  of  the  United  States  of  the  sev 
eral  State  Governments,  on  their  officers  and 


THE   JOURNEY  TO   GREENSBOROUGH.     623 

legislatures  taking  the  oaths  prescribed  by  the 
Constitution  of  the  United  States  ;  and  where 
conflicting  State  Governments  have  result 
ed  from  the  war,  the  legitimacy  of  all  shall 
be  submitted  to  the  Supreme  Court  of  the 
United  States. 

"  '  That  all  Federal  Courts  should  be  re 
established,  in  the  several  States,  with 
powers  as  defined  by  the  Constitution  of  the 
United  States  and  of  the  States,  respectively. 

"'  That  the  people  and  inhabitants  of  the 
States  should  be  guaranteed,  so  far  as  the 
Executive  can,  their  political  rights  and  fran 
chises,  as  well  as  their  rights  of  person  and 
property,  as  defined  by  the  Constitution  of 
the  United  States  and  of  the  States,  respec 
tively. 

"  '  That  the  Executive  authority  of  the 
Government  of  the  United  States  should  not 
disturb  any  of  the  people  by  reason  of  the  late 
war,  so  long  as  they  live  in  peace  and  quiet, 
abstain  from  acts  of  armed  hostility,  and  obey 
the  laws. 

"  '  That,  in  general  terms,  war  should 
cease ;  a  general  amnesty,  so  far  as  the 
Executive  of  the  United  States  could  com 
mand  on  condition  of  the  disbandment  of  the 
Confederate  armies,  the  distribution  of  arms, 
and  the  resumption  of  peaceful  pursuits  by 
the  officers  and  men  hitherto  composing  said 


624  JEFFERSON  DAVIS. 

armies,  Not  being  fully  empowered  by  our 
respective  principals,  to  fulfil  these  terms,  we 
individually  and  officially  pledge  ourselves  to 
promptly  obtain  necessary  authority,  and  to 
carry  out  the  above  programme. 

'  "  W.  T.  SHERMAN,  Major- General,  etc. 

"  '  J.  E.  JOHNSTON,  General,  etc/ 

"  I  notified  General  Johnston  that  I  ap 
proved  of  his  last  action,  but  in  doing  so 
doubted  whether  the  agreement  would  be 
ratified  by  the  United  States  Government. 
The  opinion  entertained  in  regard  to  Presi 
dent  Johnson  and  Stanton,  his  venomous 
Secretary  of  War,  did  not  permit  me  to  ex 
pect  that  they  would  be  less  vindictive  after 
a  surrender  of  our  army  had  been  proposed 
than  when  it  was  regarded  as  a  formidable 
body- in  the  field.  Whatever  hope  others  en 
tertained  that  the  war  was  about  to  be  peace 
fully  ended,  was  soon  dispelled  by  the  rejection 
of  the  basis  of  the  agreement  by  the  Govern 
ment  of  the  United  States,  and  a  notice  from 
Sherman  of  the  termination  of  the  armistice  in 
forty-eight  hours  after  noon  of  April  24th.  On 
the  26th  General  Johnston  again  met  General 
Sherman,  who  offered  the  same  terms  which 
had  been  made  with  General  Lee.  Johnston 
accepted  the  terms,  and  the  surrender  was 
made,  his  troops  being  paroled,  and  the  officers 


THE    JOURNEY  TO    GREENSBOROUGH.     625 

being  permitted  to  retain  their  side-arms, 
baggage,  and  private  horses. 

"  The  total  number  of  prisoners  thus  par 
oled  at  Greensborough,  N.  C.,  as  reported  by 
General  Schofield,  was  36,817  ;  in  Georgia 
and  Florida,  as  reported  by  General  Wilson, 
52,543  ;  in  all  under  General  Johnston,  89,- 
360. 

"  General  Lee  had  succumbed  to  the  inevit 
able.  Some  persons,  with  probably  a  desire 
to  pay  a  weak  tribute  to  Lee's  kind  heart,  or 
to  rob  Grant  of  his  claims  to  magnanimity  in 
the  matter  of  the  surrender,  have  said  that 
General  Lee  had  only  surrendered  to  stop  the 
effusion  of  blood. 

"  This  is  not  true.  He  had  no  weaknesses 
where  his  plain  duty  was  concerned.  He  surren  - 
dered  to  overwhelming  force  and  insurmount 
able  difficulties.  In  Grant's  treatment  of  his 
prisoners,  let  him  have  all  the  credit  that  can 
attach  to  him.  The  surrender  of  Johnston  was 
a  different  affair.  Johnston's  line  of  retreat, 
as  chosen  by  himself  through  South  Carolina, 
was  open  and  had  supplies  placed  upon  it  at 
various  points.  He  had  a  large  force,  of 
which  over  36,000  were  paroled  at  Greens- 
borough,  N.  C.  We  had  other  forces  in  the 
field,  and  we  were  certainly  in  a  position  to 
make  serious  resistance.  This  was  all  the 
more  important,  as  such  ability  would  have 
VOL.  II.— 40 


626  JEFFERSON  DAVIS. 

been  of  service  in  securing  better  terms  in 
bringing  the  war  to  an  end. 

"  It  might  have  been  possible  to  have 
made  some  arrangements  that  would  have  se 
cured  the  political  rights  of  the  States,  and 
their  immunity  from  the  terrible  calamities 
that  afterward  fell  upon  them.  General  John 
ston  had  these  matters  and  the  details  of  a 
plan  for  his  proposed  movement  fully  placed 
before  him,  with  orders  to  execute  it.  He 
disobeyed  the  order  and  surrendered  his 
army,  and  put  every  thing  at  the  mercy  of  the 
conquerors,  without  making  a  movement  to 
secure  terms  that  might  have  availed  to  pro 
tect  the  political  rights  of  the  people  and  pre 
serve  their  property  from  pillage  when  it  was 
in  his  power." 

Mr.  Davis  felt  that  General  Johnston's  fail 
ure  to  attempt  what  might  have  turned  out  to 
be  his  most  valuable  service  to  the  people  of 
the  South,  should  have  tempered  the  violence 
of  his  assaults  upon  some  others  who  were 
exerting  themselves  in  behalf  of  the  South. 

On  May  8th,  General  Richard  Taylor 
agreed  with  General  Canby  for  the  surrender 
of  the  land  and  naval  forces  in  Mississippi  and 
Alabama,  on  terms  similar  to  those  made  be 
tween  Johnston  and  Sherman. 

On   May  26th,  the  Chiefs  of  Staff  of  Gen- 


THE   JOURNEY  TO   GREENSBOROUGH.     627 

erals  Kirby  Smith  and  General  Canby  ar 
ranged  similar  terms  for  the  surrender  of  the 
troops  in  the  trans-Mississippi  Department. 

The  total  number  thus  paroled  by  Gener 
al  Canby  in  the  Department  of  Alabama  and 
Mississippi  was  42,293,  to  which  may  be  add 
ed  less  than  150  of  the  navy  ;  while  the  num 
ber  surrendered  by  General  Kirby  Smith,  of 
the  trans-Mississippi  Department,  was  17,- 
686. 

Extract  from  a  letter  written  at  this  time  : 

" ....  It  was  at  Salisbury  where  I 
first  encountered  Mr.  Davis  during  that  sad 
time,  and  I  had  found  very  pleasant  quarters 
at  the  home  of  the  Episcopal  clergyman,  rec 
tor  of  that  charge.  About  sunset,  Mr.  Davis, 
General  Cooper,  Colonel  William  Preston 
Johnston  (I  think),  and  one  or  two  others  of 
the  President's  staff,  came  to  the  same  house. 

"  At  tea  and  after  tea,  Mr.  Davis  was  cheer 
ful,  pleasant,  and  inclined  to  talk.  I  remem 
ber  we  sat  upon  the  porch  until  about  ten 
o'clock,  the  President  with  an  unlighted  cigar 
in  his  mouth,  talking  of  the  misfortune  of  Gen 
eral  Lee's  surrender. 

"On  the  following  morning,  at  breakfast, 
Mr.  Davis  sat  at  the  left  hand  of  the  host. 
In  the  midst  of  the  meal  the  clergyman's  little 
girl,  a  child  of  only  seven  or  eight  years,  came 
in  crying  and  greatly  disturbed.  She  ap- 


628  JEFFERSON  DAVIS. 

preached  the  table  just  between  the  President 
and  her  father,  and  said  : 

"  '  Oh,  papa,  old  Lincoln's  coming  and  go 
ing"  to  kill  us  all.' 

"  Mr.  Davis  at  once  laid  down  his  knife 
and  fork,  and  placing  his  right  hand  upon  the 
child's  head,  turned  her  tearful  face  toward  his 
own  and  said,  with  animation,  '  Oh,  no,  my 
little  lady,  you  need  not  fear  that.  Mr.  Lin 
coln  is  not  such  a  bad  man,  he  does  not  want 
to  kill  anybody,  and  certainly  not  a  little  girl 
like  you.' 

"  The  child  was  soon  pacified.  I  shall 
never  forget  the  kindly  expression  of  the 
President's  face.  .<<.< 

"At  Charlotte,  on  the  i8th,  I  saw  him 
again,  on  the  day  following  the  assassination 
of  Mr.  Lincoln. 

"  The  news  had  reached  Charlotte,  but  was 
not  credited.  Somehow  we  learned  that 
General  Breckinridge  would  be  on  the  train 
that  afternoon,  and  with  several  other  Ken- 
tuckians  I  went  to  the  depot.  His  first  desire 
was  to  see  the  President,  so  we  went  with 
him  to  Mr.  Davis.  We  found  him  sitting  in 
a  chair  in  the  door  which  opened  on  the  side 
walk.  After  shaking  hands  with  General 
Breckinridge,  he  asked  immediately : 

" '  Is  it  true,  General,  that  Mr.  Lincoln  was 
killed?'  '  Yes,  sir,' replied  General  Breckin- 


THE   yoURNEV  TO   CREEtiSBOROUGH.      629 

ridge  (who  had  just  come  from  the  front). 
'  General  Sherman  received  a  telegram  this 
morning  that  he  was  shot  in  Ford's  theatre,  at 
Washington,  last  night.'  Mr.  Davis  said 
promptly,  and  with  feeling,  '  I  am  sorry  to 
learn  it.  Mr.  Lincoln  was  a  much  better  man 
than  his  successor  will  be,  and  it  will  go  harder 
with  our  people.  It  is  bad  news  for  us.' ' 

The  letter  that  follows  shows  General 
Hampton's  views  of  the  surrender  at  the  time, 
and  his  loyal  feeling  to  our  cause,  which,  how 
ever,  like  Mr.  Davis's,  were  never  doubted. 

"YORKVILLE,   May  I,    1865. 

"  MY  DEAR  SIR:  I  left  Hillsborough  as  soon 
as  I  learned  of  the  agreement  made  between 
Generals  Sherman  and  Johnston,  and  pushed 
on  rapidly  to  this  point,  where  I  arrived  at 
one  this  morning.  A  question  arises  as  to 
whether  I  was  included  in  this  convention,  and 
I  have  agreed  to  leave  it  to  the  Secretary  of 
War  for  his  decision.  The  convention  and 
the  subsequent  order  of  General  Johnston, 
disbanded  all  the  troops  at  once.  I  think  you 
will  have  to  rely  on  a  small  body  of  picked 
men  to  get  you  across  the  river.  I  will  have 
some  such  who  will  go  on  as  soon  as  they  ar 
rive  here,  which  they  will  do  to-day  or  to 
morrow.  My  own  movements  will  depend 
on  your  orders  and  wishes.  It  will  give  me 


636  JEFFERSON  DAVIS. 

great  pleasure  to  assist  you  if  I  can  do  so,  and 
you  may  rest  assured  that  I  shall  stick  to  our 
flag  as  long  as  anyone  can  be  found  to  uphold 
it.  I  have  given  General  Wheeler  my  views 
of  this  movement  out  West,  and  he  will  ex 
plain  everything  to  you.  Should  I  not  over 
take  you,  I  beg  you  to  believe  that  you  have 
my  earnest  good  wishes  and  my  prayers  for 
your  success.  On  my  return  to  Hillsborough 
on  the  25th,  I  found  to  my  great  surprise,  that 
a  convention  had  settled  terms  between  Gen 
erals  Johnston  and  Sherman.  I  told  Gen 
eral  Johnston  that  I  did  not  consider  myself 
as  bound  by  his  convention,  but  as  he  did  con 
sider  me  so  bound,  that  the  matter  should  be 
referred  to  you,  and  that  I  would  abide  your 
decision. 

"  I  sent  a  despatch  to  you  and  I  have  come 
as  rapidly  as  possible  to  this  point,  in  hopes 
of  hearing  from  you.  My  plans  will  be  deter 
mined  by  your  decision  and  wishes.  Where- 
ever  and  however  I  can  best  do  service,  there 
I  wish  to  be. 

"  If  I  remain  here  I  shall  be  most  happy  to 
render  any  service  to  Mrs.  Davis.  That  God 
may  protect  you  and  bring  you  back  in  safety 
and  with  success,  is  the  prayer  of 

•     "  Your  sincere  friend, 

"  WADE  HAMPTON. 

"To  his  Excellency,  PRESIDENT  DAVIS." 


JEFFERSON  DAVIS  \VHE.N  CAPTURED. 


CHAPTER   LXIV. 


CAPTURE    OF     PRESIDENT    DAVIS,    AS  WRITTEN    BY 
HIMSELF. 


"  AFTER  the  expiration  of  the  armistice  I 
rode  out  of  Charlotte,  attended  by  all  but  two 
members  of  my  cabinet,  my  personal  staff,  and 
the  cavalry  that  had  been  concentrated  from 
different  fields  of  detached  service.  The 
number  was  about  two  thousand.  They  rep 
resented  five  brigade  organizations.  Though 
so  much  reduced  in  number,  they  were  in  a 
good  state  of  efficiency,  and  among"  their  offi 
cers  were  some  of  the  best  in  our  service. 

"  After  two  halts  of  half  a  day  each,  we 
reached  the  Savannah  River. 

"  I  crossed  early  in  the  morning  of  May  4th, 
with  a  company  which  had  been  detailed  as 
my  escort,  and  rode  some  miles  to  a  farm 
house,  where  I  halted  to  get  breakfast  and 
have  our  horses  fed.  Here  I  learned  that  a 
regiment  of  the  enemy  was  moving  upon 
Washington,  Ga.,  which  was  one  of  our  de 
pots  of  supplies,  and  I  sent  back  a  courier 
with  a  pencil-note  addressed  to  General 
Vaughan,  or  the  officer  commanding  the  ad- 


632  JEFFERSON  DAVIS. 

vance,  requesting"  him  to  come  on  and  join 
me  immediately.  After  waiting  a  consider 
able  time  I  determined  to  move  on  with  my 
escort,  trusting  that  we  should  arrive  in  Wash 
ington  in  time  to  rally  the  citizens  to  its  de 
fence.  When  I  reached  there  scouts  were 
sent  out  on  different  roads,  and  my  conclusion 
was  that  we  had  had  a  false  alarm.  The  Sec 
retary  of  State,  Mr.  Benjamin,  being  unaccus 
tomed  to  travelling  on  horseback,  parted  from 
me  at  the  house  where  we  stopped  to  break 
fast,  to  take  another  mode  of  conveyance  and 
a  different  route  from  that  which  I  was  pur 
suing,  with  intent  to  join  me  in  the  trans-Mis 
sissippi  Department.  At  Washington  the 
Secretary  of  the  Navy,  Mr.  Mallory,  left  me 
to  place  his  family  in  safety. 

The  Secretary  of  War,  Mr.  Breckinridge, 
had  remained  with  the  cavalry  at  the  crossing 
of  the  Savannah  River.  During  the  night 
after  my  arrival  in  Washington  he  sent  in  an 
application  for  authority  to  draw  from  the 
treasure,  under  the  protection  of  the  troops, 
enough  to  make  to  them  a  partial  payment. 
1  authorized  the  acting  Secretary  of  the 
Treasury  to  meet  the  requisition  by  the  use 
of  the  silver  coin  in  the  train.  When  the  next 
day  passed  without  the  troops  coming  for 
ward,  I  wrote  to  the  Secretary  of  War  to  de 
precate  longer  delay,  having  heard  that  Gen- 


CAPTURE  OP  MR.  DAVIS.  633 

eral  Upton  had  passed  within  a  few  miles  of 
the  town,  on  his  way  to  Augusta  to  receive 
the  surrender  of  the  garrison  and  military 
material  at  that  place,  in  conformity  with  or 
ders  issued  by  General  Johnston.  This  was 
my  first  positive  information  of  his  surrender. 

Not  receiving  an  immediate  reply  to  the 
note  addressed  to  General  Breckinridge,  I 
explained  to  Captain  Campbell,  of  Kentucky, 
commanding  my  escort,  that  his  company  was 
not  strong  enough  to  fight,  and  too  large  to 
pass  without  observation,  asked  him  to  in 
quire  if  there  were  ten  men  who  would  volun 
teer  to  go  with  me  without  question  wherever 
I  should  choose.  He  brought  back  for  an 
swer  that  the  whole  company  volunteered  on 
the  terms  proposed.  I  was  gratified,  but  felt 
to  accept  the  offer  would  expose  them  to  un 
necessary  hazard,  and  told  him,  in  any  man 
ner  he  might  think  best,  to  form  a  party  often 
men.  With  these  ten  men  and  five  of  my 
personal  staff,  I  left  Washington.  Secretary 
Reagan  remained  for  a  short  time  to  transfer 
to  Mr.  Semple  and  Mr.  Ticlball  the  treasure 
in  his  hands,  except  a  few  thousand  dollars. 
Mr.  Reagan  overtook  me  in  a  few  hours. 

"  I  saw  no  more  of  General  Breckinridge, 
but  learned  subsequently  that  he  followed  our 
route  to  overtake  me,  but  heard  of  my  cap 
ture,  and,  turned  to  the  east  and  reached  the 


634  JEFFERSON  DAVlS. 

Florida  coast  unmolested.  On  tJie  way  he 
met  J.  Taylor  Wood,  and,  in  an  open  boat 
they  crossed  the  straits  to  the  West  Indies. 
The  cavalry  command  left  at  the  Savannah 
River  was  paroled,  on  the  condition  of  re 
turning  home  and  remaining  unmolested,  and 

fc>  o 

the  troops  inclined  to  accept  those  terms. 
Had  General  Johnston  obeyed  the  order  sent 
to  him  from  Charlotte,  and  moved  on  the 
route  selected  by  himself,  with  all  his  cavalry, 
so  much  of  the  infantry  as  could  be  mounted, 
and  the  light  artillery,  he  could  not  have  been 
successfully  pursued  by  General  Sherman. 
His  force,  united  to  that  I  had  assembled  at 
Charlotte,  would  have  been  sufficient  to  van 
quish  any  troops  which  the  enemy  had  be 
tween  us  and  the  Mississippi  River. 

"  Had  the  cavalry  with  which  I  left  Char 
lotte  been  associated  with  a  force  large  enough 
to  inspire  hope  for  the  future,  instead  of  be 
ing  discouraged  by  the  surrender  of  their 
rear,  it  would  probably  have  gone  on,  and, 
when  united  with  the  forces  of  Maury,  For 
rest,  and  Taylor,  in  Alabama  and  Mississippi, 
have  constituted  an  army  large  enough  to  at 
tract  stragglers,  and  revive  the  drooping  spir 
its  of  the  country.  In  the  worst  view  of  the 
case  it  should  have  been  able  to  cross  to  the 
trans-Mississippi  Department,  and,  there  unit 
ing  with  the  armies  of  E.  K.  Smith  and  Ma- 


CAPTURE  OF  MR.  DAVIS.  63$ 

gruder,  to  form  an  army  which,  in  the  portion 
of  that  country  abounding  in  supplies  and  de 
ficient  in  rivers  and  railroads,  could  have  con 
tinued  the  war  until  our  enemy,  foiled  in  the 
purpose  of  subjugation,  should  have  agreed, 
on  the  basis  of  a  return  to  the  Union,  to  ac 
knowledge  the  constitutional  rights  of  the 
States,  and  by  a  convention,  or  quasi-treaty, 
to  guarantee  security  of  person  and  property. 
To  this  hope  I  clung,  and  if  our  independence 
could  not  be  achieved,  so  much,  at  least,  I 
trusted  might  be  gained. 

"  Those  who  have  endured  the  horrors  of 
'  reconstruction/  who  have,  under  '  carpet-bag 
rule,'  borne  insult,  robbery,  and  imprisonment 
without  legal  warrant,  can  appreciate  the  value 
of  even  such  a  limited  measure  of  success. 

"  When  I  left  Washington,  Ga.,  my  object 
was  to  go  to  the  south  far  enough  to  pass 
points  occupied  by  Federal  troops,  and  then 
turn  to  the  west,  cross  the  Chattahoochie,  and 
meet  the  forces  still  supposed  to  be  in  the 
field  in  Alabama.  If  there  should  be  no  pros 
pect  of  a  successful  resistance  east  of  the 
Mississippi,  I  intended  to  cross  to  the  trans- 
Mississippi  Department,  where  I  believed 
Generals  E.  K.  Smith  and  Magruder  would 
continue  to  uphold  our  cause. 

"  After  leaying  Washington  I  overtook  a 
commissary  and  quartermaster's  train,  having 


636  yEFF£$SON  DAVIS. 

public  papers  of  value  in  charge,  and  rinding 
that  they  had  no  experienced  woodman  with 
it,  I  gave  them  four  of  the  men  of  my  party, 
and  went  on  with  the  rest.  On  the  second  or 
third  day  after  leaving  Washington  I  heard 
that  a  band  of  marauders,  supposed  to  be 
stragglers  and  deserters  from  both  armies, 
were  in  pursuit  of  my  family,  whom  I  had  not 
seen  since  they  left  Richmond,  but  who,  I 
heard  at  Washington,  had  gone  with  my 
private  secretary  and  seven  paroled  men,  who 
generously  offered  their  services  as  an  escort, 
to  the  Florida  coast.  I  immediately  changed 
direction  and  rode  rapidly  east  across  the 
country  to  overtake  them. 

"  About  nightfall  the  horses  of  my  escort 
gave  out,  but  I  pressed  on  with  Secretary  Rea 
gan  and  my  personal  staff.  It  was  a  bright 
moonlight  night ;  and  just  before  day,  as  the 
moon  was  sinking  below  the  tree  tops,  I  met  a 
party  of  men  in  the  road,  who  answered  my 
questions  by  saying  they  belonged  to  an  Ala 
bama  regiment ;  that  they  were  coming  from 
a  village  not  far  off,  on  their  way  homeward. 
Upon  inquiry  being  made,  they  told  me  they 
had  passed  an  encampment  of  wagons,  with 
women  and  children,  and  asked  me  if  we  be 
longed  to  that  party.  Upon  being  answered 
in  the  affirmative,  they  took  their  leave. 

"  After  a  short  time,  I  was  hailed  by  a  voice 


CAPTURE   OF  MR.  DAVIS.  637 

which  I  recognized  as  that  of  my  private  sec 
retary,  Burton  N.  Harrison,  who  informed  me 
that  the  marauders  had  been  hanging  around 
the  camp,  and  that  he  and  others  were  on 
post  around  it,  and  were  expecting  an  assault 
as  soon  as  the  moon  went  down.  A  silly  story 
had  got  abroad  that  it  was  a  treasure  train, 
and  the  auri  sacra  fames  had  probably  in 
stigated  these  marauders,  as  it  subsequently 
stimulated  General  J.  H.  Wilson  to  send  out 
a  large  cavalry  force  to  capture  the  same  train. 
I  travelled  with  my  family  two  or  three  days, 
when,  believing  that  they  were  out  of  the 
region  of  marauders,  I  determined  to  leave 
their  encampment  at  nightfall  to  execute  my 
original  purpose.  My  horse  and  those  of  my 
party  were  saddled  preparatory  to  a  start, 
when  one  of  my  staff,  who  had  ridden  into 
the  neighboring  village,  returned  and  told  me 
that  he  had  heard  that  a  marauding  party 
intended  to  attack  the  camp  that  night.  This 
decided  me  to  wait  long  enough  to  see 
whether  there  was  any  truth  in  the  rumor, 
which  I  supposed  would  be  ascertained  in  a 
few  hours. *  My  horse  remained  saddled 


*  There  was  a  proposition  made  to  disembarrass  us  of  our  wagons, 
to  which  I  consented,  and  only  asked  time  to  get  out  a  change  of 
clothes  for  my  children  ;  but  Colonel  Moody  objected  to  the  time 
necessary,  and  said  it  could  be  done  next  halt — and  the  next  day  we 
were  captured  at  daybreak. 


638  JEFFERSON  DA  VIS. 

and  my  pistols  in  the  holsters,  and  I  lay  down 
fully  dressed  to  rest.  Nothing  occurred  to 
rouse  me  until  just  before  dawn,  when  my 
coachman,  -a  free  colored  man  who  clung  to 
our  fortunes,  came  and  told  me  there  was  fir 
ing  over  the  branch,  just  behind  our  encamp 
ment.  I  stepped  out  of  my  wife's  tent  and 
saw  some  horsemen,  whom  I  immediately 
recognized  as  cavalry,  deploying  around  the 
encampment.  I  turned  back  and  told  my 
wife  these  were  not  the  expected  marauders, 
but  regular  troopers.*  She  implored  me  to 
leave  her  at  once.  I  hesitated,  from  unwill 
ingness  to  do  so,  and  lost  a  few  precious 
moments  before  yielding  to  her  importunity. 
My  horse  and  arms  were  near  the  road  on 
which  I  expected  to  leave,  and  down  which 
the  cavalry  approached ;  it  was  therefore 
impracticable  for  me  to  reach  them.  As  it 
was  quite  dark  in  the  tent,  I  picked  up  what 
was  supposed  to  be  my  "raglan,"  a  water 
proof  light  overcoat,  without  sleeves ;  it  was 
subsequently  found  to  be  my  wife's,  so  very 
like  my  own  as  to  be  mistaken  for  it ;  as  I 
started,  my  wife  thoughtfully  threw  over  my 
head  and  shoulders  a  shawl.  I  had  gone 
perhaps  fifteen  or  twenty  yards  when  a  trooper 


*  He  had  said  as  he  first  went  out,  "  I  hope  I  still  have  influence 
enough  with  the  Confederates  to  prevent  your  being  robbed," 


CAPTURE    OF  MR.  DAVIS.  639 

galloped  up  and  ordered  me  to  halt  and  sur 
render,  to  which  I  gave  a  defiant  answer, 
and,  dropping  the  shawl  and  raglan  from  my 
shoulders,  advanced  toward  him  ;  he  levelled 
his  carbine  at  me,  but  I  expected,  if  he  fired, 
he  would  miss  me,  and  my  intention  was  in 
that  event  to  put  my  hand  under  his  foot, 
tumble  him  off  on  the  other  side,  spring  into 
his  saddle,  and  attempt  to  escape.  My  wife, 
who  had  *been  watching,  when  she  saw  the 
soldier  aim  his  carbine  at  me,  ran  forward  and 
threw  her  arms  around  me.  Success  depend 
ed  on  instantaneous  action,  and  recognizing 
that  the  opportunity  had  been  lost,  I  turned 
back,  and,  the  morning  being  damp  and  chilly, 
passed  on  to  a  fire  beyond  the  tent. 

"  Our  pursuers  had  taken  different  roads, 
and  approached  our  camp  from  opposite  direc 
tions  ;  they  encountered  each  other  and  com 
menced  firing,  both  supposing  that  they  had 
met  our  armed  escort,  and  some  casualties  re 
sulted  from  their  conflict  with  an  imaginary 
body  of  Confederate  troops.  During  the  con 
fusion,  while  attention  was  concentrated  upon 
myself,  except  by  those  who  were  engaged  in 
pillage,  one  of  my  aides,  Colonel  J.  Taylor 
Wood,  with  Lieutenant  Barnwell,  walked  off 
unobserved.  His  daring  on  the  sea  made  him 
an  object  of  special  hostility  to  the  Federal 
Government,  and  he  properly  availed  himself 


640  JEFFERSON  DAVIS. 

of  the  possible  means  of  escape.  Colonel 
Pritchard  went  over  to  their  battle-field,  and  I 
did  not  see  him  for  a  long  time,  surely  more 
than  an  hour  after  my  capture.  He  subse 
quently  claimed  credit,  in  a  conversation  with 
me,  for  the  forbearance  shown  by  his  men  in 
not  shooting"  me  when  I  refused  to  surrender. 

"  Many  falsehoods  have  been  uttered  in  re 
gard  to  my  capture,  which  have  been  exposed 
in  publications  by  persons  there  present — by 
Secretary  Reagan,  by  the  members  of  my 
personal  staff,  and  by  the  colored  coachman, 
Jim  Jones,  which  must  have  been  convincing 
to  all  who  desired  to  know  the  truth.  We 
were,  when  prisoners,  subjected  to  petty  pil 
lage,  as  described  in  the  publications  referred 
to,  and  in  others  ;  and  to  annoyances  such  as 
military  gentlemen  never  commit  or  permit. 

"  At  this  time  quick  firing  was  heard  on  the 
side  of  the  swamp.  We  afterward  learned 
that  two  Federal  companies  of  our  pursu 
ers  had  met  in  the  gray  of  the  morning,  and 
each  had  mistaken  the  other  for  Confederate 
troops. 

"  While  the  camp  was  being  plundered, 
which  was  done  with  great  celerity,  there  was 
a  shriek  dreadful  to  hear,  and  our  servants  told 
us  it  came  from  a  poor  creature  who,  in  prying 
up  the  lid  of  a  trunk  with  his  loaded  musket, 
shot  off  his  own  hand.  Out  of  this  trunk  the 


CAPTURE   OF  MR.  DAVIS.  641 

hooped  skirt  was  procured,  which  had  never 
been  worn  but  which  they  purported  to  have 
removed  from  Mr.  Davis's  person.  No 
hooped  skirt  could  have  been  worn  on  our 
journey,  even  by  me,  without  great  inconve 
nience,  and  I  had  none  with  me  except  the 
new  one  in  the  trunk.  I  have  long  since 
ceased  to  combat  falsehood  when  it  has  been 
uttered  and  scattered  broadcast,  a  much  less 
distance  than  this  one  has  been  borne  upon 
the  wings  of  hate  and  vilification,  and  I  now 
rest  the  case,  though,  could  the  tortures  wan 
tonly  inflicted  when  he  was  a  helpless  prisoner, 
have  been  averted  from  my  husband  by  any 
disguise,  I  should  gladly  have  tried  to  per 
suade  him  to  assume  it ;  and  who  shall  say  the 
stratagem  would  not  have  been  legitimate  ? 
I  would  have  availed  myself  of  a  Scotch  cap 
and  cloak,  or  any  other  expedient  to  avert 
from  him  the  awful  consequences  of  his  cap 
ture. 

When  we  had  travelled  back  a  day's  drive, 
as  we  were  about  to  get  in  the  wagons,  a 
man  galloped  into  camp  waving  over  his 
head  a  printed  slip  of  paper.  One  of  our 
servants  told  us  it  was  Mr.  Johnson's  procla 
mation  of  a  reward  for  Mr.  Davis's  capture  as 
the  accessory  to  Mr.  Lincoln's  assassination. 
I  was  much  shocked,  but  Mr.  Davis  was  quite 
unconcerned,  and  said,  "  The  miserable  scoun- 
VQI,.  H.-4I 


642  JEFFERSON  DAVIS. 

drel  who  issued  that  proclamation  knew  bet 
ter  than  these  men  that  it  was  false.  Of 
course,  such  an  accusation  must  fail  at  once ; 
it  may,  however,  render  these  people  willing 
to  assassinate  me  here."  There  was  a  percept 
ible  change  in  the  manner  of  the  soldiers  from 
this  time,  and  the  jibes  and  insults  heaped 
upon  us  as  they  passed  by,  notwithstanding 
Colonel  Pritchard's  efforts  to  suppress  the 
expression  of  their  detestation,  were  hard  to 
bear.  Bitterest  among  these  was  an  officer 
named  Hudson.  He  informed  me  he  intend 
ed  to  take  our  poor  little  negro  protege  as  his 
own,  and  solicitude  for  the  child  troubled  us 
more  than  Hudson's  insults. 

Within  a  short  distance  of  Macon  we  were 
halted  and  the  soldiers  drawn  up  in  line  on 
either  side  of  the  road.  Our  children  crept 
close  to  their  father,  especially  little  Maggie, 
who  put  her  arms  about  him  and  held  him 
tightly,  while  from  time  to  time  he  comforted 
her  with  tender  words  from  the  psalms  of 
David,  which  he  repeated  as  calmly  and  cheer 
fully  as  if  he  were  surrounded  by  friends.  It 
is  needless  to  say  that  as  the  men  stood  at 
ease,  they  expressed  in  words  unfit  for  wom 
en's  ears  all  that  malice  could  suggest.  In 
about  an  hour,  Colonel  Pritchard  returned,  and 
with  him  came  a  brigade,  who  testified  their 
belief  in  Mr.  Davis's  guilt  in  the  same  manner. 


MHI     T^ 


MARGARET   HOWELL  DAVIS. 
(Now  Mrs.  J.  H.  Hayes.) 


m  ***& 

1 


I 


JEFFERSON  HAYES  DAVIS. 


CAPTURE   OF  MR.  DAVIS.  643 

Men  may  be  forgiven,  who,  actuated  by 
prejudice,  exhibit  bitterness  in  the  first  hours 
of  their  triumph  ;  but  what  excuse  can  be  of 
fered  for  one  who  in  cold  blood,  deliberately 
organizes  tortures  to  be  inflicted,  and  super 
intends  for  over  a  year  their  application  to 
the  quivering  form  of  an  emaciated,  exhaust 
ed,  helpless  prisoner,  who,  the  whole  South 
proudly  remembers,  though  reduced  to  death's 
door,  unto  the  end  neither  recanted  his  faith, 
fawned  upon  his  persecutor,  nor  pleaded  for 
mercy.* 

Mr.  Davis  described  his  entrance  into  cap 
tivity  as  follows  : 

"  When  we  reached  Macon,  I  was  conduct 
ed  to  the  hotel  where  General  Wilson  had  his 
quarters.  A  strong  guard  was  in  front  of 
the  entrance,  and  when  I  passed  in  it  opened 
ranks,  facing  inward  and  presented  arms. 

"  A  commodious  room  was  assigned  to  my 
self  and  family.f  After  dinner  I  had  an  in 
terview  with  General  Wilson.  After  some 
conversation  in  regard  to  our  common  ac- 


*  See  Appendix  for  further  accounts  of  the  capture  and  other 
matters  appertaining  to  it. 

f  When  dinner  was  brought,  the  negro  brought  in  a  tray  covered 
with  a  cloth,  and  when  that  was  lifted  it  disclosed  a  lovely  bunch 
of  flowers.  With  tears  in  his  eyes  he  said,  "I  could  not  bear  for 
you  to  eat  without  something  pretty  from  the  Confederates."  I 
have  one  of  the  roses  yet,  and  if  he  has  gone  to  his  reward,  feel 
sure  that  this  kind  act  was  counted  him  for  righteousness. 


644  JEFFERSON  DA  VIS. 

quaintance,  he  referred  to  the  proclamation 
offering  a  reward  for  my  capture.  I  supposed 
that  any  insignificant  remark  of  mine  would 
be  reported  to  his  Government,  and  feared 
that  another  opportunity  to  give  my  opinion 
of  A.  Johnson  might  not  be  presented,  and 
told  him  there  was  one  man  in  the  United 
States  who  knew  that  proclamation  to  be  false. 
He  remarked  that  my  expression  indicated  a 
particular  person.  I  answered  yes,  and  that 
person  was  the  one  who  signed  it,  for  he  at 
least  knew  that  I  preferred  Lincoln  to  himself. 
"  Having  several  small  children,  one  of 
them  an  infant,  I  expressed  a  preference  for 
the  easier  route  by  water,  supposing  then,  as 
he  seemed  to  do,  that  I  was  to  go  to  Wash 
ington  City.  He  manifested  a  courteous, 
obliging  temper.  My  preference  as  to  the 
route  was  accorded.*  I  told  him  that  some 
of  the  men  with  me  were  on  parole,  that  they 
were  riding  their  own  horses — private  prop 
erty — and  I  hoped  they  would  be  permitted 
to  retain  them.  I  have  a  distinct  recollection 
that  he  promised  me  it  should  be  done,  but 
have  since  learned  that  their  horses  were  tak 
en  ;  and  some  who  were  on  parole,  viz.,  Major 


*  Colonel  Pritchard,  though  evidently  laboring  under  an  invincible 
prejudice,  even  an  active  sense  of  hate,  tried  to  give  us  as  little  un 
necessary  pain  as  he  could,  but  of  the  horrors  and  sufferings  on  that 
journey  it  is  difficult  to  speak. 


CAPTURE   OF  MR.  DAVIS.  645 

Moran,  Captain  Moody,  Lieutenant  Hatha 
way,  Midshipman  Howell,  and  Private  Messec, 
who  had  not  violated  their  obligation  of  pa 
role,  but  were  voluntarily  travelling  with  my 
family  to  protect  them  from  marauders,  were 
prisoners  of  war,  and  all  incarcerated  in  dis 
regard  of  the  protection  promised  when  they 
surrendered.  At  Augusta  we  were  put  on  a 
steamer,  and  there  met  Vice-President  Steph 
ens,  Honorable  C.  C.  Clay,  General  Wheel 
er,  the  distinguished  cavalry  officer,  and  his 
adjutant,  General  Rails. 

"  Burton  N.  Harrison,  though  they  would 
not  allow  him  to  go  in  the  carriage  with  me, 
resolved  to  follow  my  fortunes,  as  well  from, 
sentiment  as  from  the  hope  of  being  useful. 
•His  fidelity  was  rewarded  by  a  long  and  rig 
orous  imprisonment.  At  Port  Royal*  we 


*  There  a  tug  came  out  to  us,  bringing  a  number  of  jeering  people 
to  see  Mr.  Davis,  and  they  plied  him  with  such  insulting  questions, 
that  he  looked  up  at  an  axe  fastened  to  the  wall  in  the  gangway  ;  the 
look  was  observed,  and  the  axe  removed.  From  one  of  these  peo 
ple  we  learned  that  our  old  friend,  General  Saxton,  was  there,  and 
my  husband  thought  we  might  ask  the  favor  of  him  to  look  after  our 
little  protege  Jim's  education,  in  order  that  he  might  not  fall  under 
the  degrading  influence  of  Captain  Hudson.  A  note  was  written 
to  General  Saxton,  and  the  poor  little  boy  was  given  to  the  officers 
of  the  tug-boat  for  the  General,  who  kindly  took  charge  of  him. 
Believing  that  he  was  going  on  board  to  see  something  and  return, 
he  quietly  went,  but  as  soon  as  he  found  he  was  to  leave  us  he  fought 
like  a  little  tiger,  and  was  thus  engaged  the  last  we  saw  of  him.  I 
hope  he  has  been  successful  in  the  world,  for  he  was  a  fine  boy,  not 
withstanding  all  that  had  been  done  to  mar  his  childhood.  Some 


646  JEFFERSON  DAVIS. 

were  transferred  to  a  sea-going  vessel,  which 
instead  of  being  sent  to  Washington  City, 
anchored  at  Hampton  Roads. 


years  ago  we  saw  in  a  Massachusetts  paper  that  he  would  bear  to 
his  grave  the  marks  of  the  stripes  inflicted  upon  him  by  us.  We 
felt  sure  he  had  not  said  this,  for  the  affection  was  mutual  between 
us,  and  we  had  never  punished  him. 


CHAPTER  LXV. 

THE    SEPARATION  AND    IMPRISONMENT  OF   OUR 
PARTY. 

BEFORE  we  were  parted  Mr.  Davis  told  me 
if  we  should  be  separated  by  the  authorities, 
to  tell  any  of  the  Confederate  agents  I  saw 
that  they  must  use  all  the  money  they  could 
get  to  pay  the  debts  of  the  Confederacy.  He 
also  told  me  to  request  Mr.  O'Conor  to  de 
fend  him ;  but  in  the  meanwhile  Mr.  O'Con 
or  had  volunteered  his  services,  and  he  was 
a  tower  of  strength  to  us,  to  whom  we  owed 
more  than  can  be  expressed.  He  passed 
away  before  my  husband,  but  his  honored 
name  still  lives. 

After  lying  at  anchor  a  few  days  a  tug  came 
out,  and  my  brother  Jefferson,  a  paroled  mid 
shipman,  without  arms,  and  taken  in  no  hostile 
act,  came  with  a  cheerful  face,  and  throwing 
his  arms  around  me,  said,  "  They  have  come 
for  me;  good-by,  do  not  be  uneasy;"  the 
cheery  smile  of  the  boy  as  he  went  over  the 
side  of  the  vessel  to  an  unknown  fate,  haunts 
me  yet.  He  and  the  other  gentlemen  of  our 
travelling  party  were  taken  off  together  to 
their  carefully  concealed  destination. 


648  JEFFERSON  DA  VIS. 

A  second  tug  took  Mr.  Stephens,  General 
Wheeler,  our  friends  of  the  staff,  and  Mr.  Da- 
vis's  private  secretary,  who  all  preserved  the 
same  quiet  demeanor.  On  the  next  day  a 
tug  with  a  company  of  German  soldiers  came 
up.  Our  little  Jeff  ran  to  us,  pale  with  hor 
ror,  and  sobbed  out,  "They  say  they  have 
come  for  father,  beg  them  to  let  us  go  with 
him."  Mr.  Davis  went  forward,  and  returned 
with  an  officer,  saying,  "  It  is  true,  I  must  go 
at  once."  He  whispered  to  me,  "  Try  not  to 
weep,  they  will  gloat  over  your  grief,"  and 
the  desire  to  lessen  his  anguish  enabled  me 
to  bid  farewell  quietly.  Mrs.  Clay  preserved 
the  same  self-control.  His  parting  from  our 
-children  was  a  sacred  sorrow,  in  which  the 
people  on  deck  participated  so  far  as  observa 
tion  without  sympathy  would  go.  We  parted 
in  silence.  As  the  tug  bore  him  away  from 
the  ship,  he  stood  with  bared  head  between 
the  files  of  undersized  German  and  other  for 
eign  soldiers  on  either  side  of  him,  and  as  we 
looked,  as  we  thought,  our  last  upon  his 
stately  form  and  knightly  bearing,  he  seemed 
a  man  of  another  and  higher  race,  upon  whom 
"  shame  would  not  dare  to  sit.7' 

After  a  few  hours  Colonel  Pritchard  left  us 
here,  and  asked  me  for  my  waterproof,  which 
I  thought  would  disprove  the  assertion  that  it 
was  essentially  a  woman's  cloak,  and  gave  to 


SEPARATION  AND  IMPRISONMENT.       649 

him.  Such  provisions  as  we  had  were  taken 
from  us,  and  hard  tack  and  soldier's  fare  was 
substituted.  Captain  Grant,  of  Maine,  how 
ever,  was  a  humane  man,  and  did  his  best  for 
us.  The  effort  was  made  to  get  a  physician 
for  my  sister,  who  was  exceedingly  ill,  but  Dr. 
Craven  accounts  for  our  inability  to  do  so  in 
his  "  Prison  Life  of  Jefferson  Davis,"  p.  77, 
by  saying  that  the  orders  were  to  allow  no 
communication  with  the  ship.  We  were  now 
visited  by  a  raiding  party,  headed  by  Captain 
Hudson.  They  opened  our  trunks  and  ab 
stracted  everything  they  desired  to  have. 
Among  these  articles  were  nearly  all  my 
children's  clothes.  My  boy  Jeff  seized  his 
little  uniform  of  Confederate  gray,  and  ran 
up  to  me  with  it,  and  thus  prevented  its  be 
ing  taken  as  a  trophy.  A  very  handsome 
Pennsylvania  flag,  which  had  been  captured 
by  General  Bradley  Johnson  in  battle,  was 
also  taken  out  of  my  trunk.  Then  Captain 
Hudson  valiantly  came  with  a  file  of  men  to 
insist  upon  having  my  shawl,  and  said  he 
would  take  everything  I  had  if  I  did  not 
yield  it  to  him,  though  he  offered  to  buy  me 
another  to  replace  it.  It  was  relinquished,  as 
anything  else  would  have  been  to  dispense 
with  his  presence. 

We  were  anchored  out  a  mile  or  two  in  the 
harbor,  and  little  tugs  full  of  mockers,  male 


650  JEFFERSON  DAVIS. 

and  female,  came  out.  They  steamed  around 
the  ship,  offering,  when  one  of  us  met  their 
view,  such  insults  as  were  transmissible  at  a 
short  distance.  Some  United  States  officers 
visited  the  ship,  of  whom  I  have  no  clear 
memory,  except  of  the  "  Roland"  Mrs.  Clay 
gave  them  for  the  "  Oliver "  they  offered. 
Two  or  three  of  them  looked  into  my  sis 
ter's  state-room,  with  whom  Mrs.  Clay  was  sit 
ting.  She  said,  "  Gentlemen,  do  not  look  in 
here,  it  is  a  ladies'  state-room."  One  of  them 
threw  the  door  open  and  said,  "  There  are  no 
ladies  here  ;  "  to  which  Mrs.  Clay  responded, 
"There  certainly  are  no  gentlemen  there." 
They  retired  swearing  out  their  wrath. 

The  next  day  General  Miles  and  some 
other  officers  came  on  board,  and  summoned 
Mrs.  Clay  and  me.  He  was  quite  young, 
about,  I  should  think,  twenty-five,  and 
seemed  to  have  newly  acquired  his  elevated 
position.  He  was  not  respectful,  but  I 
thought  it  was  his  ignorance  of  polite  usage. 
He  declined  to  tell  me  anything  of  my  hus 
band,  or  about  our  own  destination,  and  said 
"  Davis "  had  announced  Mr.  Lincoln's  as 
sassination  the  day  before  it  happened,  and 
he  guessed  he  knew  all  about  it. 

All  newspapers  were  forbidden,  and  the 
next  day  we  sailed  under  sealed  orders.  A 
letter  to  Dr.  Craven,  but  meant  for  my  hus- 


JEFFERSON  DAVIS,  JR. 


SEPARATION  AND  IMPRISONMENT.       651 

band,  quoted  elsewhere,  tells  all  that  would 
interest  anyone  at  this  day.  My  first  letter, 
which  contained  the  same  narrative,  addressed 
to  Mr.  Davis,  had  been  intercepted. 

Mr.  Davis  wrote  :  "  After  some  days'  deten 
tion,  Clay  and  myself  were  removed  to  Fort 
ress  Monroe,  and  there  incarcerated  in  separ 
ate  cells.  Not  knowing  that  the  Government 
was  at  war  with  women  and  children,  I  asked 
that  my  family  might  be  permitted  to  leave 
the  ship  and  go  to  Richmond  or  Washington 
City,  or  some  place  where  they  had  acquain 
tances  ;  but  this  was  refused.  I  then  request 
ed  that  they  might  be  permitted  to  go  abroad 
on  one  of  the  vessels  lying  at  the  Roads. 
This  was  also  denied.  Finally,  I  was  in 
formed  that  they  must  return  to  Savannah  on 
the  vessel  by  which  they  came.  This  was  an 
old  transport-ship,  hardly  seaworthy.  My 
last  attempt  was  to  get  them  the  privilege  of 
stopping  at  Charleston,  where  they  had  many 
personal  friends.  This  also  was  refused.  My 
daily  experience  as  a  prisoner  only  served  to 
intensify  my  extreme  solicitude.  Bitter  tears 
have  been  shed  by  the  gentle,  and  stern  re 
proaches  have  been  made  by  the  magnani 
mous,  on  account  of  the  heavy  fetters  riveted 
upon  me  while  in  a  stone  casemate  and  sur 
rounded  by  a  strong  guard  ;  but  these  were 
less  excruciating  than  the  mental  agony  my 


652  JEFFERSON  DAVIS. 

captors  were  able  to  inflict.  It  was  long  be 
fore  I  was  permitted  to  hear  from  my  wife  and 
children,  and  this,  and  things  like  this,  was 
the  power  which  education  added  to  savage 
cruelty/' 


CHAPTER   LXVI. 

CRUELTIES   PRACTISED  AT  FORTRESS  MONROE. 

As  the  most  conclusive  evidence  of  Gener 
al  Miles's  animus,  and  of  the  methods  adopted 
toward  Mr.  Davis  when  he  reached  the  fort,  a 
statement  of  events  in  relation  to  putting  fet 
ters  upon  him  at  Fortress  Monroe  is  given  be 
low,  derived  from  a  statement  of  the  officer  of 
the  day,  and  verified  by  the  prisoner  and  a  wit 
ness,  Captain  J.  Titlow,  of  the  Third  Pennsyl 
vania  Artillery. 

"  When  Jefferson  Davis  was  brought  to 
Fortress  Monroe  he  was  confined  in  the  gun 
room  of  a  casemate,  the  embrasure  of  which 
was  closed  with  a  heavy  iron  grating,  and 
the  two  doors  which  communicated  with  the 
gunner's  room  were  closed  by  heavy  double 
shutters,  fastened  with  cross-bars  and  pad 
locks.  The  side  openings  had  been  closed 
with  fresh  masonry,*  the  plastering  of  which 
was  soft  to  the  touch  ;  the  rest  of  the  four 
walls  of  solid  masonry,  the  top  being  an  arch 
to  support  the  earth  of  the  parapet.  Two 

*  To  this  disregard  of  Mr.  Davis' s  health  was  probably  due  his  in 
tense  suffering  from  carbuncles  and  erysipelas  afterward 


654  JEFFERSON  DAVIS. 

sentinels,  with  muskets  loaded  and  bayonets 
fixed,  paced  to  and  fro  across  this  small  pris 
on.  Two  other  sentinels  and  a  commissioned 
officer  occupied  the  gunner's-room,  the  door 
and  windows  of  which  were  strongly  secured. 
The  officer  of  the  day  had  the  key  of  the  outer 
door,  and  sentinels  were  posted  on  the  pave 
ment  in  front  of  it.  There  were  also  sentinels 
on  the  parapet  overhead.  The  embrasure 
looked  out  on  a  wet  ditch,  say,  sixty  feet 
wide,  the  water  in  which  was  probably  from 
seven  to  ten  feet  deep  ;  scarp  and  counter 
scarp  revetted  with  dressed  masonry.  Be 
yond  the  ditch  on  the  glacis  was  a  double 
chain  of  sentinels,  and  in  the  casemate-rooms 
on  each  side  of  his  prison  were  quartered  that 
part  of  the  guard  which  was  not  on  post. 
Worn  down  by  privation,  over-exertion,  and 
exposure,  my  husband  was  in  no  condition, 
when  thrown  into  prison,  to  resist  exciting 
causes  of  disease.  The  damp  walls,  the  food 
too  coarse  and  bad  to  be  eaten,  the  depriva 
tion  of  sleep  caused  by  the  tramping  of  senti 
nels  around  the  iron  cot,  the  light  of  the  lamp 
which  shone  full  upon  it,  the  loud  calling  of  the 
roll  when  another  relief  was  turned  out,  the 
noise  of  unlocking  the  doors,  the  tramp  of 
the  sentinels  who  came  to  relieve  those  on 
the  post,  produced  fever,  and  rapidly  wasted 
his  strength.  Without  mechanical  aid,  even 


CRUELTIES  AT  FORTRESS  MONROE.       655 

though  his  efforts  were  not  interrupted,  no  one 
man  could  have  removed  the  grating  from 
the  embrasure.  If  that  had  been  done,  and  he 
could  have  swum  across  the  ditch  and  climbed 
up  the  revetment  on  the  opposite  side,  which 
is  doubtful,  he  would  there  have  encountered 
the  sentinels  on  the  glacis.  The  circumstan 
ces,  together  with  many  manifestations  indi 
cating  feeling  toward  him,  led  him  to  the  con 
clusion  that  it  was  not  the  belief  that  these 
things  were  necessary  to  prevent  his  escape, 
but  a  purpose  to  inflict  physical  pain,  and  per 
haps  to  deprive  him  of  life. 

On  May  23,  1865,  the  officer  of  the  day, 
Captain  J.  Titlow,  of  the  Third  Pennsylvania 
Artillery,  came  into  his  prison  with  two  black 
smiths  bearing  a  pair  of  heavy  leg  irons  coup 
led  together  by  a  ponderous  chain.  Cap 
tain  Titlow,  in  a  manner  fully  sustaining  his 
words,  informed  him  that  with  great  personal 
reluctance  he  came  to  execute  an  order  to 
put  irons  upon  him.  Mr.  Davis  asked  whether 
General  Miles  had  given  that  order,  and  on 
being  answered  in  the  affirmative,  said  he 
wished  to  see  General  Miles.  Captain  Titlow 
replied  that  he  had  just  left  General  Miles,  who 
was  leaving  the  fort.  Mr.  Davis  then  asked 
that  the  execution  of  the  order  should  be  post 
poned  until  General  Miles  returned.  Captain 
Titlow  said  his  orders  would  not  permit  that, 


656  JEFFERSON  DAVIS. 

and  that  to  an  old  soldier  it  was  needless  to  say 
that  an  officer  was  bound  to  execute  such  an  or 
der  as  it  was  given  to  him.  Mr.  Davis  told 
him  that  it  was  too  obvious  that  there  could  be 
no  necessity  for  the  use  of  such  means  to  ren 
der  his  imprisonment  secure,  and  on  Captain 
Titlow  repeating  that  his  duty  was  to  execute 
his  orders,  Mr.  Davis  said  it  was  not  such 
an  order  as  a  soldier  could  give,  or  should  re 
ceive,  and  he  would  not  submit  to  it.  That 
it  was  evident  the  intention  was  to  torture  him 
to  death,  that  he  would  never  tamely  be  sub 
jected  to  indignities  by  which  it  was  sought 
in  his  own  person  to  degrade  the  cause  of 
which  he  was  a  representative.  The  officer 
of  the  day,  with  evident  kind  feeling,  endeav 
ored  to  dissuade  him  from  resistance.  The 
officer  of  the  guard  came  in  from  the  front 
room,  and  united  with  the  officer  of  the  day 
to  induce  him  to  yield.  It  was  needless  to 
show,  what  was  very  apparent,  that  resistance 
could  not  be  successful,  and  Mr.  Davis's  an 
swer  was  that  he  was  a  soldier  and  a  gentle 
man,  that  he  knew  how  to  die,  and,  pointing 
to  the  sentinel  who  stood  ready,  said,  "  Let 
your  men  shoot  me  at  once/'  He  faced  round 
with  his  back  to  the  wall  and  stood  silently 
waiting.  His  quiet  manner  led  the  officer  of 
the  day  to  suppose  that  no  resistance  would 
be  made,  and  therefore  the  blacksmiths  were 


CRUELTIES  AT  FORTRESS  MONROE.       657 

directed  to  do  their  work.  As  one  of  them 
stooped  down  to  put  on  the  fetter,  Mr.  Davis 
slung  him  off  so  violently  as  to  throw  him  on 
the  floor.  He  recovered  and  raised  his  ham 
mer  to  strike,  but  the  officer  of  the  day 
stopped  him  ;  simultaneously  one  of  the  senti 
nels  cocked  and  lowered  his  musket,  advancing 
on  the  prisoner,  who  then  encountered  this 
assailant.  But  Captain  Titlow  now  saw  the 
new  danger  and  promptly  interposed,  telling 
the  sentinels  they  were  not  to  fire ;  then  or 
dered  the  officer  of  the  guard  to  bring  in  four 
of  the  strongest  men  of  the  guard  without  fire 
arms,  for  the  purpose  of  overcoming  by  mus 
cular  strength  the  resistance  which  was  threat 
ened.  Mr.  Davis  had  nothing  with  which  to 
defend  himself,  even  his  penknife  having  been 
previously  taken  from  him.  The  contest  was 
brief,  which  ended  in  his  being  thrown  down, 
four  men  on  his  body  and  head.  He  could 
not  see  the  blacksmiths  when  they  approached 
to  put  on  the  irons,  but  feeling  one  he  kicked 
him  off  from  him.  The  smith  recovered,  and 
with  the  aid  which  the  other  men  could  give 
him,  succeeded  in  the  second  attempt  to  rivet 
one  fetter  and  secure  the  padlock  which  held 
the  other.  The  object  being  effected,  the 
officer  of  the  day  retired  with  the  men  he  had 
brought  in.  Mr.  Davis  lay  down  on  the  cot, 
covered  his  ironed  limbs  with  the  blanket, 
VOL.  ii.— 42 


658  JEFFERSON  DAVIS. 

and  felt  only  a  more  intense  contempt  for 
the  brutality  with  which  he  was  treated  than 
when  a  few  minutes  before  he  had  announced 
his  belief  that  he  was  to  be  tortured  to  death, 
and  defied  the  power  which  attempted  to  de 
grade  him. 

Of  the  dramatic  account  published  in  Dr. 
Craven's  book,*  he  said  it  could  not  have 
been  written  by  anyone  who  either  knew  the 
facts,  or  had  such  personal  knowledge  of  him 
as  to  form  a  just  idea  of  what  his  conduct 
would  be  under  such  circumstances.  The 
fact,  he  added,  was,  that  very  little  was  said 
either  by  Captain  Titlow  or  by  himself,  and 
that  whatever  was  said  was  uttered  in  a  very 
quiet,  practical  manner.  For  himself,  he 
would  say  he  was  too  resolved  and  too 
proudly  conscious  of  his  relation  to  a  sacred, 
though  unsuccessful  cause,  for  such  exclama 
tion  and  manifestation  as  were  imputed  to 
him  by  Dr.  Craven's  informant,  and  given  to 
the  public  in  his  book. 


*  The  good  doctor  probably  received  the  account  from  some  un 
reliable  person.  So  revolting  was  the  recital  to  all  honorable  and 
brave  men,  that  General  Birge,  of  whose  kind  heart  I  had  several 
proofs,  wrote  to  me  not  to  be  disturbed,  the  act  could  not  have  been 
perpetrated  ;  and  there  are  certainly  many  persons  in  the  North  now 
who  have  not  accepted  it  as  a  fact. 


CHAPTER   LXVII. 

THE   TORTURES    INFLICTED    BY  GENERAL  MILES. 

THE  following  extracts  from  Dr.  Craven's 
book  will  best  present  a  feature  of  the  tort 
ures  inflicted  by  General  Miles  : 

"  May  24,  1865.  Calling  upon  the  prison 
er — the  first  time  I  had  ever  seen  him  closely 
— he  presented  3  very  miserable  and  afflict 
ing  aspect.  Stretched  upon  his  pallet  and 
very  much  emaciated,  Mr.  Davis  appeared  a 
mere  fascine  of  raw  and  tremulous  nerves,  his 
eyes  restless  and  fevered,  his  head  continual 
ly  shifting  from  side  to  side  for  a  cool  spot 
on  the  pillow,  and  his  case  clearly  one  in 
which  intense  cerebral  excitement  was  the 
first  thing  needing  attention.  He  was  ex 
tremely  despondent,  his  pulse  full  and  at 
ninety,  tongue  thickly  coated,  extremities 
cold,  and  his  head  troubled  with  a  long-es 
tablished  neuralgic  disorder.  Complained  of 
his  thin  camp  mattress,  and  pillow  stuffed 
with  hair,  adding  that  he  was  so  emaciated 
that  his  skin  chafed  easily  against  the  slats  ; 
and,  as  these  complaints  were  well  founded, 
I  ordered  an  additional  hospital  mattress  and 


660  JEFFERSON  DA  VIS. 

softer  pillow,  for  which  he  thanked  me  cour 
teously." 

"  May  24,  1865.  On  quitting  Mr.  Davis, 
at  once  wrote  to  Major  Church,  Assistant- 
Adjutant-general,  advising  that  the  prisoner 
be  allowed  tobacco — to  the  want  of  which, 
after  a  lifetime  of  use,  he  had  referred  as  one 
of  the  probable  partial  causes  of  his  illness — 
though  not  complainingly,  nor  with  any  re 
quest  that  it  be  given." 

After  some  days  this  request  was  granted. 

"  Complained  that  the  footfalls  of  the  two 
sentries  within  his  chamber  made  it  difficult 
for  him  to  collect  his  thoughts  ;  but  added 
cheerfully,  that  with  this  (touching  his  pipe) 
he  hoped  to  become  tranquil."  * 

"  May  25th.  I  have  a  poor,  frail  body," 
he  said,  "  and  though  in  my  youth  and  man 
hood,  while  soldiering,  I  have  done  some 
rough  camping  and  campaigning,  there  was 
flesh  then  to  cover  my  nerves  and  bones ; 
and  that  makes  an  important  difference." 

"  May  26th.  Happening  to  notice  that  his 
coffee  stood  cold  and  apparently  untasted  be 
side  his  bed  in  its  tin  cup,  I  remarked  that 
here  was  a  contradiction  of  the  assertion  im- 


*  During  this  period  Mr.  Stanton  is  said  to  have  gone  down  and 
peered  through  the  grating  at  the  tortured  man,  and  that  General 
Miles  favored  his  friends  with  peeps  at  him  when  they  were  at  all 
curious, 


fORTURES  iNFLfctEb  BY  G£JV.   MILES.    661 

plied  in  the  old  army  question,  '  Who  ever 
saw  cold  coffee  in  a  tin  cup  ? '  referring  to 
the  eagerness  with  which  soldiers  of  all 
classes,  when  campaigning,  seek  for  and  use 
this  beverage.* 

"  '  I  cannot  drink  it/  he  remarked,  '  though 
fond  of  coffee  all  my  life.  It  is  the  poorest 
article  of  the  sort  I  have  ever  tasted  ;  and  if 
your  government  pays  for  such  stuff  as  coffee, 
the  purchasing  Quartermaster  must  be  get 
ting  rich.  It  surprises  me,  too,  for  I  thought 
your  soldiers  must  have  the  best ;  many  of  my 
generals  complaining  of  the  difficulties  they 
encountered  in  seeking  to  prevent  our  people 
from  making  volunteer  truces  with  your  sol 
diers  whenever  the  lines  ran  near  each  other, 
for  the  purpose  of  exchanging  the  tobacco  we 
had  in  abundance  against  your  coffee  and 
sugar/ 

"  I  told  him  to  spend  as  little  time  in  bed 
as  he  could  ;  that  exercise  was  the  best  medi 
cine  for  dyspeptic  patients.  .  To  this  he  an 
swered  by  uncovering  the  blankets  from  his 
feet  and  showing  me  his  shackled  ankles. 

*  This  coffee  was  brought  in  the  same  cup,  unwashed,  in  which 
his  soup  had  been  served  the  day  before,  and  whatever  he  tasted 
cooked  brought  on  intense  pain.  The  bread  brought  to  him  was  first 
shredded  through  the  hands  of  one  of  the  soldiers,  to  see  that  it  con 
tained  no  "deadly  weepons."  Mr.  Davis  therefore  decided  to  eat 
no  more  than  would  barely  sustain  life,  and  found  difficulty  in  do 
ing  this,  the  manner  of  its  presentation  was  so  revolting. 


662  JEFFERSON  DA  VIS. 

"  '  It  is  impossible  for  me,  doctor  ;  I  cannot 
even  stand  erect.  These  shackles  are  very 
heavy ;  I  know  not,  with  the  chain,  how 
many  pounds.  If  I  try  to  move  them  they 
trip  me,  and  have  already  abraded  broad 
patches  of  skin  from  the  parts  they  touch. 
Can  you  devise  no  means  to  pad  or  cushion 
them,  so  that  when  I  try  to  drag  them  along 
they  may  not  chafe  me  intolerably  ?  My 
limbs  have  so  little  flesh  on  them,  and  that  so 
weak,  as  to  be  easily  lacerated/ 

"  That  afternoon,  at  an  interview  sought 
with  Major-General  Miles,  my  opinion  was 
given  that  the  physical  condition  of  State- 
prisoner  Davis  required  the  removal  of  his 
shackles  until  such  time  as  his  health  should 
be  established  on  some  firmer  basis.  Exer 
cise  he  absolutely  needed,  and  also  some  alle 
viation  of  his  abnormal  nervous  excitement. 
No  drugs  could  aid  a  digestion  naturally 
weak  and  so  impaired,  without  exercise  ;  nor 
could  anything,  in  the  pharmacopoeia  quiet 
nerves  so  overwrought  and  shattered,  while 
the  continual  friction  of  the  fetters  was  coun 
terpoising  whatever  medicines  could  be  given. 

"  '  You  believe  it,  then,  a  medical  neces 
sity  ?  '  queried  General  Miles. 

"  '  I  do,  most  earnestly/  " 

"  May  27th.  Mr.  Davis  said  :  '  My  physi 
cal  condition  rendered  it  obvious  that  there 


TORTURES  INFLICTED  JSY  GEN.  MILES.   663 

could  be  no  idea  that  fetters  were  needful  to 
the  security  of  my  imprisonment.  It  was 
clear,  therefore,  that  the  object  was  to  offer  an 
indignity  both  to  myself  and  the  cause  I  rep 
resented — not  the  less  sacred  to  me  because 
covered  with  the  pall  of  a  military  disaster. 
It  was  for  this  reason  I  resisted  as  a  duty  to 
my  faith,  to  my  countrymen,  and  to  myself. 
It  was  for  this  reason  I  courted  death  from 
the  muskets  of  the  guard.  The  officer  of  the 
day  prevented  that  result,  and,  indeed,'  bow 
ing  to  Captain  Titlow,  '  behaved  like  a  man 
of  good  feeling/  .  .  . 

"  Patriots  in  all  ages,  to  whose  memories 
shrines  are  now  built,  have  suffered  as  bad  or 
worse  indignities." 

o 

He  was  uneasy  lest  my  luggage  should  be 
again  searched  and  rifled,  and  indignities  of 
fered.  Dr.  Craven  wrote  : 

"  On  my  remarking,  to  soothe  him,  that  no 
such  search  was  probable,  he  said  it  could 
hardly  be  otherwise,  as  he  had  received  a 
suit  of  heavy  clothes  from  the  propeller  ;  and 
General  Miles,  when  informing  him  of  the  fact, 
had  mentioned  that  there  were  quite  a  number 
of  suits  there. 

"  '  Now,  I  had  none  with  me  but  such  as  my 
wife  placed  in  her  own  trunks  when  she  left 
Richmond,  so  that  her  trunks  have  probably 
been  opened  ;  and  I  suppose,'  he  added  with 


664  *-fEFFER$ON 

another  grim  smile,  '  that  the  other  clothes 
to  which  General  Miles  referred,  are  now  on 
exhibition  or  preserved  as  "  relics."  My  only 
hope  is  that  in  taking  my  wardrobe  they  did 
not  also  confiscate  that  of  my  wife  and  chil 
dren  ;  but  I  realize  that  we  are  like  him  of  old 
who  fell  among  a  certain  class  of  people  and 
was  succored  by  the  good  Samaritan.' ' 

"  May  29th.  Complained  of  the  dampness 
of  his  cell,  as  one  probable  cause  of  his  illness. 
The  sun  could  never  dart  its  influence  through 
such  masses  of  masonry.  Surrounded  as  the 
fort  was  with  a  ditch,  in  which  the  water  rose 
and  fell  from  three  to  four  feet  with  the  tide, 
it  was  impossible  to  keep  such  places  free 
from  noxious  vapors. 

"  Recurring  to  the  subject  of  his  family,  Mr. 
Davis  asked  me  had  I  not  been  called  upon 
to  attend  Miss  Howell,  his  wife's  sister,  who 
had  been  very  ill  at  the  time  of  his  quitting 
the  Clyde.  Replied  that  Colonel  James, 
Chief  Quartermaster,  had  called  at  my  quar 
ters  and  requested  me  to  visit  a  sick  lady  on 
board  that  vessel ;  believed  it  was  the  lady  he 
referred  to,  but  could  not  be  sure  of  the  name. 
Had  mentioned  the  matter  to  General  Miles, 
asking  a  pass  to  visit;  but  he  objected,  say 
ing  the  orders  were  to  allow  no  communica 
tion  with  the  ship." 

"  June  ist.     Except  for  the  purpose  of  petty 


TORTV&ES  INFLICTED  %Y  GEN.  MILES.    665 

torture,  there  could  be  no  color  of  reason  for 
withholding  from  him  any  books  or  papers 
dated  prior  to  the  war." 

"  June  8th.  Was  distracted,  night  and  day, 
by  the  unceasing  tread  of  the  two  sentinels  in 
his  room,  and  the  murmur  or  gabble  of  the 
guards  in  the  outside  cell.  He  said  his  case 
mate  was  well  formed  for  a  torture-room  of 
the  Inquisition.  Its  arched  roof  made  it  a  per 
fect  whispering  gallery,  in  which  all  sounds 
were  jumbled  and  repeated.  The  torment  of 
his  head  was  so  dreadful,  he  feared  he  must 
lose  his  mind.  Already  his  memory,,  vision, 
and  hearing  were  impaired.  He  had  but  the 
remains  of  one  eye  left,  and  the  glaring  white 
washed  walls  were  rapidly  destroying  this. 
He  pointed  to  a  crevice  in  the  wall  where  his 
bed  had  been,  explaining  that  he  had  changed 
to  the  other  side  to  avoid  its  mephitic  vapors." 

"  June  loth.  General  Miles  had  taken 
charge  of  his  clothing,  and  seemed  to  think  a 
change  of  linen  twice  a  week  enough.  It 
might  be  so  in  Massachusetts.  But  now  even 
this  wretched  allowance  was  denied.  The 
General  might  know  nothing  of  the  matter ; 
but,  if  so,  some  member  of  his  staff  was  neg 
ligent.  It  was  pitiful  they  could  not  send  his 
trunks  to  his  cell,  but  must  insist  on  thus  dol 
ing  out  his  clothes,  as  though  he  were  a  con 
vict  in  some  penitentiary.  If  the  object  were 


666  JEFFERSON  DAVIS. 

to  degrade  him,  it  must  fail.  None  could  be 
degraded  by  unmerited  insult  heaped  on  help 
lessness  but  the  perpetrators.  The  day  would 
come  when  our  people  would  be  ashamed  of 
his  treatment.  For  himself,  the  sufferings  he 
was  undergoing  would  do  him  good  with  his 
people  (the  South).  Even  those  who  had 
opposed  him  would  be  kept  silent,  if  not  won 
over,  by  public  sympathy.  Whatever  other 
opinions  might  be  held,  it  was  clear  he  was 
selected  as  chief  victim,  bearing  the  burden 
of  Northern  hatred  which  should  be  more 
equally  distributed." 

"  June  1 4th.  Would  be  glad  to  have  a  few 
volumes  on  the  conchology,  geology,  or  bot 
any  of  the  South,  and  was  at  a  loss  to  think 
how  such  volumes  could  endanger  his  safe 
keeping." 

"  June  1 8th.  Mr.  Davis  said  :  '  One  of  the 
features  of  the  proposition  submitted  by  Gen 
eral  Sherman  was  a  declaration  of  amnesty  to 
all  persons,  both  civil  and  military.  Notice 
being  called  to  the  fact  particularly,  Sherman 
said,  "  I  mean  just  that ;  "  and  gave  his  reason 
that  it  was  the  only  way  to  have  perfect  peace. 
He  had  previously  offered  to  furnish  a  vessel 
to  take  away  any  such  persons  as  Mr.  Davis 
might  select,  to  be  freighted  with  whatever 
personal  property  they  might  want  to  take 
with  them}  and  to  go  wherever  it  pleased' 


TORTURES  INFLICTED  BY  GEN.  MILES.     667 

"  June  24th.  Called  on  Mr.  Davis,  accom 
panied  by  Captain  Titlow,  officer  of  the  day. 
On  entering,  found  the  prisoner,  for  the  first 
time,  alone  in  his  cell,  the  two  guards  having 
been  removed  from  it  in  consequence  of  my 
report  to  Major-General  Miles  that  their  pres 
ence  was  counteracting  every  effort  for  qui 
eting  the  nerves  of  the  patient.  Mr.  Davis 
remarked  that  the  change  had  done  him 
good,  his  last  night's  sleep  having  been  un 
disturbed." 

"  Representations  in  regard  to  the  need 
Mr.  Davis  stood  in  of  different  pabulum,  both 
for  his  eyes  and  mind,  had  been  previously 
made  by  me  to  Major-General  Miles,  and  had 
been  confirmed,  I  rather  believe,  by  Colonel 
Pineo,  Medical  Inspector  of  the  department, 
who  had  visited  Mr.  Davis  in  my  company  on 
the  1 2th  of  the  month,  having  a  long  and 
interesting  conversation  with  the  prisoner — a 
fact  which  should  have  been  mentioned  at  an 
earlier  date  ;  but  as  the  conversation  was  one 
in  which  I  took  little  part,  the  brief  memoran 
dum  in  my  diary  escaped  my  notice  until  re 
vived  by  the  fuller  notes  of  this  day's  inter 
view. 

"  While  the  State  prisoner  was  yet  speak 
ing  of  the  troubles  of  his  sight,  Major-General 
Miles  entered,  with  the  pleasant  announce 
ment  that  Mr.  Davis  was  to  be  allowed  to 


663 

walk  one  hour  each  day  upon  the  ramparts, 
and  to  have  miscellaneous  reading  hereafter 
— books,  newspapers,  and  such  magazines  as 
might  be  approved,  after  perusal  at  head 
quarters — an  improvement  of  condition,  it 
must  be  needless  to  say,  very  pleasing  to  the 
prisoner." 

"  Mr.  Davis  was  allowed  to  walk  on  the 
ramparts  beside  General  Miles,  and  with  two 
armed  men  behind  him. 

"  I  only  noticed  that  Mr.  Davis  was  arrayed 
in  the  same  garb  he  had  worn  when  entering 
the  cell — indeed  General  Miles  had  possession 
of  all  his  other  wardrobe — and  that  while  his 
carriage  was  proud  and  erect  as  ever,  not 
losing  a  hair's  breadth  of  his  height  from  any 
stoop,  his  step  had  lost  its  elasticity,  his  gait 
was  feeble  in  the  extreme,  and  he  had  fre 
quently  to  press  his  chest,  panting  in  the 
pauses  of  exertion.  The  cortege  promenaded 
along  the  ramparts  of  the  south  front,  Mr. 
Davis  often  stopping  and  pointing  out  objects 
of  interest,  as  if  giving  reminiscences  of  the 
past  and  making  inquiries  of  the  present.  He 
was  so  weak,  however,  that  the  hour  allowed 
proved  nearly  twice  too  much  for  him,  and  he 
had  to  be  led  back  with  only  half  his  offered 
liberty  enjoyed." 

"  June  25th.  From  this  time,  the  prisoner 
received  books  and  newspapers  freely,  chiefly 


TORTURES  INFLICTED  BY  GEN.   MILES.     669 

reading  of  newspapers,'  the  New  York  Her 
ald  (only  occasional  numbers),  and  of  books, 
histories — Mr.  Bancroft  appearing  his  favor 
ite  American  author.  I  recommended  him  to 
be  very  moderate  at  first  in  his  open-air  exer 
cise,  gauging  the  amount  of  exercise  to  his 
strength  ;  and  from  time  to  time  forward,  Mr. 
Davis  went  out  every  day  for  an  hour's  exer 
cise,  the  weather  and  his  health  permitting." 

"  July  i-ith.  Found  prisoner  very  despond 
ing,  the  failure  of  his  sight  troubling  him  and 
his  nights  almost  without  sleep.  His  present 
treatment  was  killing  him  by  inches,  and  he 
wished  shorter  work  could  be  made  of  his  tor 
ment.  He  had  hoped  long  since  for  a  trial 
which  should  be  public,  and  therefore  with 
some  semblance  of  fairness ;  but  hope  de 
ferred  was  making  his  heart  sick. 

"  Mr.  Davis  complained  this  sleeplessness 
was  aggravated  by  the  lamp  kept  burning  in 
his  room  all  night,  so  that  he  could  be  seen  at 
all  moments  by  the  guard  in  the  outer  cell. 
If  he  happened  to  doze  one  feverish  moment, 
the  noise  of  relieving  guard  in  the  next  room 
aroused  him,  and  the  lamp  poured  its  full 


*  The  newspapers  allowed  were  of  those  the  most  hostile,  and  ir 
regularly  sent.  The  books  sent  were  such  as  General  Miles  chose, 
though  I  sent  a  large  box  of  books  in  English  type,  and  these  the 
express  office  showed  by  a  receipt  were  delivered  at  the  fort.  Mr. 
Davis  never  received  one,  nor  could  I  recover  them  afterward. 


670  JEFFERSON  DAVIS. 

glare  into  his  aching  and  throbbing  eyes. 
There  must  be  a  change  in  this,  or  he  would 
go  crazy,  or  blind,  or  both. 

"  *  Doctor/  he  said,  '  had  you  ever  the  con 
sciousness  of  being  watched  ?  Of  having  an 
eye  fixed  on  you  every  moment,  intently  scrut 
inizing  your  most  minute  actions,  and  the 
variations  of  your  countenance  and  posture  ? 
The  consciousness  that  the  Omniscient  Eye 
rests  upon  us,  in  every  situation,  is  the  most 
consoling  and  beautiful  belief  of  religion.  But 
to  have  a  human  eye  riveted  on  you  in  every 
moment  of  waking  or  sleeping,  sitting,  walk 
ing,  or  lying  down,  is  a  refinement  of  torture 
on  anything  the  Camanches  or  Spanish  In 
quisition  ever  dreamed.  .  .  .  But  the 
human  eye  forever  fixed  upon  you  is  the  eye 
of  a  spy,  or  enemy,  gloating  in  the  pain  and 
humiliation  which  itself  creates.  I  have  lived 
too  long  in  the  woods  to  be  frightened  by  an 
owl,  and  have  seen  death  too  often  to  dread 
any  form  of  pain.  But  I  confess  this  torture 
of  being  watched  begins  to  prey  on  my  rea 
son.  The  lamp  burning  in  my  room  all  night 
would  seem  a  torment  devised  by  someone 
who  had  intimate  knowledge  of  my  habits,  my 
custom  having  been  through  life  never  to  sleep 
except  in  total  darkness.'  ' 

"July  1 5th.  Called  on  Mr.  Davis  accom 
panied  by  Captain  Grill,  Third  Pennsylvania 


TORTURES  INFLICTED  BY  GEN.   MILES.    671 

Artillery,  officer  of  the  day.  Found  him  ex 
tremely  weak,  growing  more  alarmed  about 
his  sight,  which  was  failing  rapidly.  The 
phenomenon  had  occurred  to  him  of  seeing 
all  objects  double,  due  chiefly  to  his  nervous 
debility  and  the  over-taxation  of  constant 
reading."  •+ 

"  July  30th.  Found  Mr.  Davis  in  a  very 
critical  state  ;  his  nervous  debility  extreme, 
his  mind  more  despondent  than  ever  hereto 
fore,  his  appetite  gone,  complexion  livid,  and 
pulse  denoting  deep  prostration  of  all  physi 
cal  energies.  Was  much  alarmed,  and  real 
ized  with  painful  anxiety  the  responsibilities 
of  my  position.  If  he  were  to  die  in  prison, 
and  without  trial,  subject  to  such  severities  as 
had  been  inflicted  on  his  attenuated  frame, 
the  world  would  form  unjust  conclusions,  but 
conclusions  with  enough  color  to  pass  them 
into  history.''  * 

"  Let  me  here  remark  that,  despite  a  cer 
tain  exterior  cynicism  of  manner,  no  patient 
has  ever  crossed  my  path  who,  suffering  so 
much  himself,  appeared  to  feel  so  warmly  and 
tenderly  for  others.  Sickness,  as  a  general 
rule,  is  sadly  selfish,  its  own  pains  and  infirm- 


*  The  italics  are  mine,  but  as  we  heard  the  book  from  which 
these  excerpts  are  quoted  was  submitted  to  Mr.  Stanton  before  it 
was  published,  and  its  details  severely  curtailed,  suppose  this  sig 
nificant  passage  crept  in  unawares. 


672  JEFFERSON  DAVIS. 

ities  occupying  too  much  of  its  thoughts. 
With  Mr.  Davis,  however,  the  rule  did  not 
work,  or  rather  he  was  an  exception  calling 
attention  to  its  general  truth." 

When  I  obtained  permission  to  write  letters 
to  my  husband,  the  only  restriction  imposed 
by  the  Government  was  that  the  Attorney- 
General  should  read  those  written  and  re 
ceived,  but  General  Miles  also  claimed  their 
perusal,  and  they  "  had  to  be  sent  open  to 
General  Miles,  and  from  him,  he  (Mr.  Davis) 
understood,  similarly  open  to  the  Attorney- 
General." 

"  There  was  no  affectation  of  devoutness 
or  asceticism  in  my  patient ;  but  every  oppor 
tunity  I  had  of  seeing  him,  convinced  me  more 
deeply  of  his  sincere  religious  convictions. 
He  was  fond  of  referring  to  passages  of 
Scripture,  comparing  text  with  text,  dwelling 
on  the  divine  beauty  of  the  imagery,  and  the 
wonderful  adaptation  of  the  whole  to  every 
conceivable  phase  and  stage  of  human  life. 

"  The  Psalms  were  his  favorite  portion  of 
the  Word,  and  had  always  been.  Evidence 
of  their  divine  origin  was  inherent  in  their 
text.  Only  an  intelligence  that  held  the  life- 
threads  of  the  entire  human  family  could  have 
thus  pealed  forth  in  a  single  cry  every  wish, 
joy,  fear,  exultation,  hope,  passion,  and  sor 
row  of  the  human  heart.  There  were  mo- 


TORTURES  INFLICTED  BY  GEN.  MILES.     673 

ments,  while  speaking  on  religious  subjects, 
in  which  Mr.  Davis  impressed  me  more  than 
any  professor  of  Christianity  I  had  ever  heard. 
There  was  a  vital  earnestness  in  his  discourse, 
a  clear,  almost  passionate,  grasp  in  his  faith  ; 
and  the  thought  would  frequently  recur,  that 
a  belief  capable  of  consoling  such  sorrows  as 
his,  possessed,  and  thereby  evidenced,  a  real 
ity — a  substance— which  no  sophistry  of  the 
infidel  could  discredit. 

"  To  this  phase  of  the  prisoner's  character 
I  have  heretofore  rather  avoided  calling  at 
tention  for  several  reasons,  prominent  of 
which,  though  an  unworthy  one,  was  this  : 
My  knowledge  that  many,  if  not  a  majority, 
of  my  readers  would  approach  the  character 
of  Mr.  Davis  with  a  preconception  of  dislike 
and  distrust,  and  a  consequent  fear  that  an 
earlier  forcing  on  their  attention  of  this  phase 
of  his  character,  before  their  opinion  had  been 
modified  by  such  glimpses  as  are  herein  giv 
en,  might  only  challenge  a  base  and  false  im 
putation  of  hypocrisy  against  one  whom,  in 
my  judgment,  no  more  devout  exemplar  of 
Christian  faith,  and  its  value  as  a  consolation, 
now  lives,  whatever  may  have  been  his  polit 
ical  crimes." 

"  July  24th.  While  walking  on  the  ram 
parts  in  enforced  companionship  with  General 
Miles,  who,  if  he  was  seeking  a  subject  that 
VOL.  II.— 43 


674  ySFF&RSON  DAVIS. 

would  not  offend  the  almost  dying  man,  was 
singularly  unfortunate  in  his  choice  of  a  topic, 
he  observed,  interrogatively,  that  it  was  re 
ported  John  C.  Calhoun  had  made  much 
money  by  speculations,  or  favoring  the  spec 
ulations  of  his  friends,  connected  with  this 
work. 

"  In  a  moment  Mr,  Davis  started  to  his 
feet,  betraying  much  indignation  by  his  ex 
cited  manner  and  flushed  cheek.  It  was  a 
transfiguration  of  friendly  emotion,  the  feeble 
and  wasted  invalid  and  prisoner  suddenly  for 
getting  his  bonds,  forgetting  his  debility,  and 
ablaze  with  eloquent  anger  against  this  injus 
tice  in  ih«-  innnnry  of  our  whom  Ix-  lovr,!  ;ui,| 

reverenced.  Mr.  Calhoun,  he  said,  lived  a 
whole  atmosphere  above  any  sordid  or  dis 
honest  thought — was  of  a  nature  to  which 
even  a  mean  act  was  impossible.  .  .  . 

"  Mr.  Davis  believed  the  hands  of  George 
Wa'. lmi"i. MI  not  MHHV  fivr  from  lh<*  lilthinrss 
of  briU  ,  ili. in  w<  iv  id'.  .-  <>!  ihr  <lr|>;irlr.l 
statesman  who  h.i.l  \»-<  n  thus  lilx-llr<|." 

11  August  i6th.  Prisoner  suffc 
but  in  a  less  critical  state,  the  e 
showing  itself  in  his  nose  a 
Found  that  a  carbuncle  was  fc 

I'-ll    thi;;h,  Mr.   I  )avis  un'.inj:    llii  •   as    .1    proof 

of  .1  ni.il.in.il  atmosplinv  in  his  cell,  ivilrratinj; 

li  lh.it,   il  lli'-  (  ,«,\  r-niiiM-nl  w.iiil'-<|  |o  l,r 


TORTURES  INFLICTED  BY  GEN,   MILES,    675 

rid  of  him  without  trial,  it  might  take  some 
quicker  process.'1 

"  August  20th.  Called  with  Captain  Evans, 
officer  of  the  clay.  Mr.  Davis  suffering  great 
prostration,  a  cloud  of  erysipelas  covering 
his  whole  face  and  throat.  The  carbuncle 
much  inflamed.  Spirits  exceedingly  dejected, 
evinced  by  anxiety  for  his  wife  and  children. 
That  lid  should  di<;  without  opportunity  of 
rebuttim;  in  public  trial  the  imputed  conspir 
acy  to  assassinate  Mr.  Lincoln,  was  referred 
to  frequently  and  painfully.  That  history 
would  do  him  justice,  .md  the  criminal  absurd 
ity  of  the  charge  be  its  own  refutation,  hd 
had  cheerful  conlidrncr  while  in  hrallh  ;  but 
in  his  feebleness  and  despondency,  with 
knowledge  how  powerful  ihey  were  who 
wished  to  allix  this  slain,  his  alarm  lest  it 
might  become  a  reproach  to  his  children 
grew  an  increasing  shadow." 

44  August  2 ist.     Prostration  increased,  and 

the  erysipelas  spreading.  I  )enned  j|  m\ 
duty  to  send  a  communication  to  Major-Gen- 
dral  Miles,  reporting  that  I  found  the  State 
piisoner,  I  >avis,  suffering  severely  from  ery 
sipelas  in  the  face  and  head,  accompanied  by 
t.hd  usual  prostration  attending  that  disease. 
Also  that  he  had  a  small  carbuncle  on  his  left 

thigh,  his  condition  denoting  a  low  state  of 
the  vital  forces/' 


676  JEFFERSON  DAVIS. 

"  August  23d.  Said  he  concluded  not  to 
lose  any  more  spoons  for  me,  but  would  re 
tain  the  one  that  morning  sent  with  his 
breakfast.  Unless  things  took  a  change  he 
would  not  require  it  long." 

(This  was  an  allusion  to  the  desire  some 
of  the  guards  had  to  secure  trophies  of  any 
thing  Mr.  Davis  had  touched.  They  had 
carried  away  his  brier-wood  pipe,  and  from 
time  to  time  taken  five  of  the  spoons  sent 
over  with  his  meals  from  my  quarters. 
.  .  .  No  knife  or  fork  being  allowed  the 
prisoner,  ''lest  he  should  commit  suicide,"  his 
food  had  to  be  cut  up  before  being  sent  over 
—a  needless  precaution,  it  always  seemed  to 
me,  and  more  likely  to  produce  than  to  pre 
vent  the  act,  by  continually  keeping  the  idea 
that  it  was  expected  before  the  prisoner's 
mind.  It  was  in  returning  the  trays  from 
Mr.  Davis  to  my  quarters,  that  the  spoons 
were  taken — an  annoyance  obviated  by  his 
retaining  one  for  use.  This  only  changed 
the  form  of  trophy,  however  ;  napkins  that 
he  had  used  being  the  next  class  of  prizes 
seized  and  sent  home  to  sweethearts  by  loyal 
warders  at  the  gates.)  * 


*  Everything  he  laid  down  was  taken  except  his  bible,  and  at  last, 
when  he  had  dropped  asleep  momentarily,  a  soldier  felt  in  his  night 
gown  to  get  a  little  medal  I  had  persuaded  him  to  wear1  about  his 
neck, 


TORTURES  INFLICTED  BY  GEN.   MILES.     677 

"  Errors,  like  all  other  men,  he  had  com 
mitted  ;  but  stretched  now  on  a  bed  from 
which  he  might  never  rise,  and  looking  with 
the  eyes  of  faith,  which  no  walls  could  bar, 
up  to  the  throne  of  Divine  mercy,  it  was  his 
comfort  that  no  such  crimes  as  men  laid  to 
his  charge  reproached  him  in  the  whispers  of 
his  conscience/' 

"August  24th.  Visited  Mr.  Davis  with 
Captain  Titlow,  officer  of  the  day.  Found 
him  slightly  better  in  mind  and  body. 

"  Observing  me  brush  away  with  my  foot 
some  crumbs  scattered  near  his  bedside, 
Mr.  Davis  asked  me  to  desist ;  they  were  for 
a  mouse  he  was  domesticating — the  only  liv 
ing  thing  he  had  now  power  to  benefit. 

"  Every  conversation  of  this  kind  with  Mr. 
Davis  recalled  the  saying  of  some  eminent 
writer,  whose  name  has  escaped  me,  that  '  it 
is  a  noble  thing  to  know  how  to  take  a  coun 
try  walk/  or  words  containing  that  idea,  but 
more  concisely  and  vividly  expressed." 

"August  25th.  The  captain  gave  me  an 
order  from  General  Miles,  allowing  State 
prisoner  Davis  to  have  a  knife  and  fork 
with  his  meals  hereafter.  Mr.  Davis  was 
pleased,  but  said  he  had  learned  many  new 
uses  to  which  a  spoon  could  be  put  when  no 
other  implement  was  accessible.  In  particu 
lar,  it  was  the  best  peach  peeler  ever  invent- 


678  JEFFERSON  DAVIS. 

ed,  and  he  illustrated  as  he  spoke  on  a  fruit 
that  lay  on  his  table.  Denying  him  a  knife 
and  fork  lest  he  should  commit  suicide,  he 
said,  was  designed  to  represent  him  to  the 
world  as  an  atrocious  criminal,  so  harrowed 
by  remorse  that  the  oblivion  of  death  would 
be  welcome.  His  early  shackles  had  partly 
the  same  object,  but  still  more  to  degrade  his 


cause." 


"September  ist.  Was  called  at  daylight 
by  Captain  Titlow,  officer  of  the  day,  to  see 
State  prisoner  Davis,  who  appeared  rapidly 
sinking,  and  was  believed  to  be  in  a  critical 
condition.  The  carbuncle  on  his  thigh  was 
much  inflamed,  his  pulse  indicating  extreme 
prostration  of  the  vital  forces.  The  ery 
sipelas  which  had  subsided  now  reappeared, 
and  the  febrile  excitement  ran  very  high. 
Prescribed  such  remedies,  constitutional  and 
topical,  as  were  indicated ;  but  always  had 
much  trouble  to  persuade  him  to  use  the  stim 
ulants  so  urgently  needed  by  his  condition. 

"  Mr.  Davis  renewed  his  complaints  of  the 
vitiated  atmosphere  of  the  casemate,  declar 
ing  it  to  be  noxious  and  pestilential  from  the 
causes  before  noticed.  Mould  gathered  upon 
his  shoes,  showing  the  dampness  of  the  place, 
and  no  animal  life  could  prosper  in  an  atmos 
phere  that  generated  these  hyphomycetous 
fungi.  From  the  rising  and  falling  of  the 


TORTURES  INFLICTED  BY  GEN.   MILES.     679 

tides  in  the  loose  foundations  of  the  case 
mate,  mephitic  fungi  emanated,  the  spores  of 
which,  floating  in  the  air,  were  thrown  off 
with  such  quantities,  and  such  incessant  repe 
titions  of  reproduction,  as  to  thoroughly  per 
vade  the  atmosphere,  entering  the  lungs  and 
blood  with  every  breath,  and  redeveloping 
their  poisonous  qualities  in  the  citadel  of  life. 
Peculiar  classes  of  these  fungi  were  character 
istic  of  the  atmosphere  in  which  cholera  and 
other  forms  of  plague  were  most  rankly  gen 
erated,  as  had  been  established  by  the  Rev 
erend  Mr.  Osborne,  in  a  long  and  interesting 
series  of  experimental  researches  with  the 
achromatic  microscope  during  the  cholera  vis 
itation  of  1854,  in  England.  Men  in  robust 
health  might  defy  these  miasmatic  influences, 
but  to  him,  so  physically  reduced,  the  atmos 
phere  that  generated  mould  found  no  vital 
force  sufficient  to  resist  its  poisonous  inhala 
tion. 

"  Assured  Mr.  Davis  that  his  opinion  on 
the  matter  had  for  some  time  been  my  own, 
and  that  on  several  occasions  I  had  called  the 
attention  of  Major-  General  Miles  to  the  sub 
ject.  Satisfied  that  the  danger  was  now  seri 
ous  if  he  were  longer  continued  in  such  an  at 
mosphere,  I  would  make  an  official  report  on 
the  subject  to  the  General  Commanding,  rec 
ommending  a  change  of  quarters. 


68o  JEFFERSON  DAVIS. 

"  Mr.  Davis  again  spoke  of  the  wretched 
ness  of  being  constantly  watched,  of  feeling 
that  a  human  eye,  inquisitive  and  pitiless,  was 
fixed  upon  all  his  movements,  night  and  day. 
This  was  one  of  the  torments  imposed  on  the 
Marquis  de  Lafayette  in  the  dungeons  of 
Magdeburg  and  Olmutz.  Indeed,  the  par 
allel  between  their  prison  lives,  if  not  in  some 
other  respects,  was  remarkable.  Lafayette 
was  denied  the  use  of  knife  or  fork,  lest  he 
should  commit  self-destruction.  He  was  con 
fined  in  a  casemate  or  dungeon  of  the  two 
most  powerful  fortresses  of  Prussia  first,  and 
then  Austria.  While  in  Magdeburg,  he  found 
a  friend  in  the  humane  physician,  who  repeat 
edly  reported  that  the  prisoner  could  not  live 
unless  allowed  to  breathe  purer  air  than  that 
of  his  cell ;  and  on  this  recommendation — the 
Governor  at  first  answering  that  he  '  was  not 
ill  enough  yet ' — the  illustrious  prisoner  was  at 
length  allowed  to  take  the  air,  sometimes  on 
foot,  at  other  times  in  a  carriage,  but  always 
accompanied  by  an  officer  with  drawn  sword 
and  two  armed  guards. 

"  Lafayette,  however,  in  his  second  impris 
onment  was  never  shackled ;  and  though 
treated  with  the  utmost  cruelty,  no  indignities 
were  offered  to  his  person. 

"  It  may  be  here  remarked  that  the  power 
of  memory  possessed  by  Mr.  Davis  appeared 


TORTURES  INFLICTED  BY  GEN.   MILES.     68 1 

almost  miraculous — a  single  perusal  of  any 
passage  that  interested  him  enabling  him  to 
repeat  it  almost  verbatim.  This  wonderful 
gift  of  memorizing,  and  apparent  universality 
of  knowledge,  were  remarked  by  every  officer 
of  the  day  as  well  as  myself,  Mr.  Davis  hav 
ing  kindly  relations  with  all,  and  conversation 
suited  to  each  visitor.  As  instances  of  this — 
at  which  I  was  not  present  myself,  but  heard 
related  from  the  officers  immediately  after 
their  occurrence — let  me  mention  two  conver 
sations. 

"  An  officer  of  the  day,  very  fond  of  dogs, 
and  believing  himself  well  posted  in  all  varie 
ties  of  that  animal,  once  entered  the  prisoner's 
cell,  followed  by  a  bull-terrier  or  some  other 
breed  of  belligerent  canine.  Mr.  Davis  at 
once  commenced  examining  and  criticising 
the  dog's  points  with  all  the  minuteness  of  a 
master,  thence  gliding  into  a  general  review 
of  the  whole  race  of  pointers,  setters,  and  re 
trievers,  terriers,  bull-dogs,  German  poodles, 
greyhounds,  blood-hounds,  and  so  forth  ;  the 
result  of  his  conversation  being  best  given  in 
the  words  of  the  dog-fancying  officer  :  '  Well, 
I  thought  I  knew  something  about  dogs,  but 
hang  me  if  I  won't  get  appointed  officer  of 
the  day  as  often  as  I  can,  and  go  to  school 
to  Jeff  Davis/  " 


682  JEFFERSON  DAVIS. 

"OFFICE  OF  THE  CHIEF  MEDICAL  OFFICER, 
"  FORT  MONROE,  VA.,  September  i,  1865. 

"  GENERAL  :  I  have  the  honor  to  report 
prisoner  Davis  still  suffering  from  the  effects 
of  a  carbuncle.  The  erysipelas  of  the  face 
had  entirely  subsided,  but  yesterday  reap 
peared.  His  health  is  evidently  rapidly  de 
clining. 

"  I  remain,  General,  very  respectfully, 
"  Your  obedient  servant, 

"  JOHN  J.  CRAVEN." 

The  routine  report  merely  ran  : 

"  I  have  the  honor  to  report  prisoner 
Davis's  condition  not  perceivably  different 
from  that  of  yesterday  :  very  feeble ;  no  ap 
petite." 

"  September  ist,  Mr.  Davis  said:  'The 
women  of  the  South  had  sent  forth  their  sons, 
directing  them  to  return  with  wounds  disab 
ling  them  for  further  service,  or  never  to  re 
turn  at  all.  All  they  had  flung  into  the  con 
test — beauty,  grace,  passion,  ornament ;  the 
exquisite  frivolities  so  dear  to  the  sex  were 
cast  aside ;  their  songs,  if  they  had  any  heart 
to  sing,  were  patriotic ;  their  trinkets  were 
flung  into  the  public  crucible  ;  the  carpets 
from  their  floors  were  portioned  out  as  blan 
kets  to  the  suffering  soldiers  of  their  cause  ; 
women  bred  to  every  refinement  of  luxury, 


TORTURES  INFLICTED  BY  GEN.   MILES.     683 

wore  home-spuns  made  by  their  own  hands  ; 
when  materials  for  an  army-balloon  were 
wanted,  the  richest  silk  dresses  were  sent  in, 
and  there  was  only  competition  to  secure 
their  acceptance.  As  nurses  of  the  sick,  as 
encouragers  and  providers  for  the  combatants, 
as  angels  of  charity  and  mercy,  adopting  as 
their  own  all  children  made  orphans  in  de 
fence  of  their  homes,  as  patient  and  beautiful 
household  deities,  accepting  every  sacrifice 
with  unconcern,  and  lightening  the  burdens 
of  war  by  every  art,  blandishment,  and  labor 
proper  to  their  sphere,  the  dear  women  of  his 
people  deserved  to  take  rank  with  the  high 
est  heroines  of  the  grandest  days  of  the  great 
est  countries.'  ' 

"  September  6th.  As  with  the  casemate, 
there  were  to  be  two  rooms  used  for  the  pris 
oner's  confinement.  In  the  outer  one  a  lieu 
tenant  and  two  soldiers  were  constantly  sta 
tioned  on  guard,  having  a  view  of  the  interior 
chamber  through  a  grated  door.  Opposite 
this  door  was  a  fireplace.  To  its  right  when 
facing  the  door,  was  a  window  heavily  grated, 
and  with  a  sentinel  continually  on  duty  before 
it,  pacing  up  and  down  the  piazza.  Opposite 
the  window  a  door  leading  into  the  corridor, 
but  permanently  fastened  with  heavy  iron 
clamps,  and  in  this  door  a  sliding  panel  in 
which  the  face  of  a  sentinel  was  continually 


684  JEFFERSON  DA  VlS. 

framed  by  night  and  day,  ready  to  report  to 
his  officer  the  first  sign  of  any  attempt  on  the 
prisoner's  part  to  shuffle  off  this  mortal  coil 
by  any  act  of  self-violence.  It  was  of  this 
face,  with  its  unblinking  eyes,  that  Mr.  Davis 
so  bitterly  complained  in  after-days  ;  but  this 
is  anticipating.  The  prisoner,  as  was  said  of 
Lafayette,  is  perhaps  '  not  sick  enough  yet' 
and  has  to  suffer  some  further  weeks  of  ex 
posure  in  his  present  casemate." 

"  September  22d.  Called  on  Mr.  Davis 
for  the  first  time  since  returning"  from  Rich- 

o 

mond,  accompanied  by  Captain  Titlow,  Third 
Pennsylvania  Artillery,  officer  of  the  day. 
Found  he  had  been  inquiring  for  me  several 
days,  in  consequence  of  suffering  premonitory 
symptoms  of  a  return  of  the  erysipelas  to  his 
face.  Reported  his  condition  to  Major-Gen- 
eral  Miles,  respectfully  asking  permission  to 
call  in  Colonel  Pineo,  Medical  Inspector  of  the 
Department  for  consultation. 

"  Mentioned  that  General  Terry,  my  old 
commander,  had  kindly  placed  the  carriage  of 
Mr.  Davis  at  my  disposal  during  the  visit. 

"  Mr.  Davis  laughed  about  his  carriage,  and 
said  that  since  some  '  Yankee '  had  to  ride  in 
it,  he  would  prefer  my  doing  so  to  another." 

"  September  23d.  Prisoner  renewed  his 
questions  about  the  proposed  change  in  his 
place  of  confinement,  begging  me,  if  I  knew 


TORTURES  INFLICTED  BY  GEN.    MILES.     685 

anything,  even  the  worst — that  he  was  to  be 
kept  as  now  until  death  put  an  end  to  his  suf 
ferings — not  to  conceal  it  from  him  any  longer; 
that  suspense  was  more  injurious  to  him  than 
could  be  the  most  painful  certainty.  Assured 
him  that  I  had  no  further  information.  A 
place  had  been  selected  for  his  incarceration 
in  Carroll  Hall,  the  requisite  changes  in  the 
rooms  made,  and  I  heard  no  reason  for  his 
non-transfer.  If  I  did  so,  he  should  be  in 
formed  immediately.* 

"  Mr.  Davis  renewed  my  attention  to  the 
steady  deterioration  of  his  health,  which  he  re 
garded  as  chiefly  due  to  the  unfitness  of  his 
cell  for  human  habitation.  His  head  had  a 
continued  humming  in  it,  like  the  whizzing  of 
a  wound  watch  when  its  main  spring  is  sud 
denly  broken.  Little  black  motes  slowly  as 
cended  and  descended  between  his  sight,  and 
whatever  page  he  was  reading  or  object  in 
specting;  and  his  memory  likewise  gave  dis 
tinct  indications  of  losing  its  elasticity.  The 
carbuncle,  however,  was  quite  well,  having 
left  a  deep-red  cicatrix  where  it  had  been, 
precisely  like  the  healed  wound  of  a  Minie 
bullet.  Mr.  Davis  had  not  much  flesh  to  lose 
on  entering  the  fort,  but  believed  he  must 


*  The  change  was  postponed  as  long  as  possible,  as  Dr.   Craven 
evidently  thought. 


686  JEFFERSON  DAVIS. 

have  lost  what  little  of  it  could  be  spared  while 
still  preserving  life." 

"  October  I5th.  Colonel  Pelouze  called  for 
a  report  .of  the  health  of  the  prisoner,  with 
my  opinion  as  to  the  advisability  or  necessity 
of  a  change  in  his  place  of  confinement ;  visited 
the  new  quarters  in  Carroll  Hall,  and  directed 
General  Miles — being  thereto  empowered  by 
his  instructions — to  remove  Mr.  Davis  from  the 
casemate  to  his  new  and  more  pleasant  abode. 

"  Found  Mr.  Davis  already  looking  much 
brighter,  exclaiming  as  I  entered,  '  The  world 
does  move,  after  all.'  The  panel  in  the  side 
door  opening  into  the  corridor,  in  which  a  sen 
try's  face  was  framed,  gave  him  some  annoy 
ance,  and  he  referred  again  to  Lafayette  in 
connection  with  the  torture  of  a  human  eye 
constantly  riveted  on  his  movements.  If  his 
wish  were  to  commit  suicide,  such  a  precau 
tion  would  prove  wholly  unavailing.  It  looked 
rather  as  if  the  wish  were  to  drive  him  to  its 


commission." 


"October  15th.  Ladies  and  other  friends 
of  persons  in  authority  at  the  fort  were  let 
loose  on  the  ramparts  about  the  hour  of  his 
walk,  to  stare  at  him  as  though  he  were  the 
caged  monster  of  some  travelling  menagerie.* 

*  School-girls  headed  by  their  teachers  came  down  to  the  fort  and 
were  allowed  to  intercept  him  in  the  restricted  walks  he  took 
with  General  Miles  for  a  companion  ! 


TORTURES  INFLICTED  BY  GEN.    MILES.     687 

He  had  endeavored  to  rebuke  this  during  his 
last  walk,  when  he  saw  a  group  of  ladies  wait 
ing  for  his  appearance,  by  turning  short  round 
and  re-entering  his  cell.  Dear  and  valuable 
as  was  the  liberty  of  an  hour's  exercise  in  the 
open  air,  there  were  prices  at  which  he  could 
not  consent  to  purchase  it,  and  this  was  of  the 
number.  His  general  treatment  Mr.  Davis 
acknowledged  to  be  good,  though  there 
were  in  it  many  annoyances  of  detail — such 
as  the  sentry's  eye  always  fastened  on  his 
movements,  and  the  supervision  of  his  corre 
spondence  with  his  wife — unworthy  of  any 
country  aspiring  to  magnanimity  or  great 


ness." 


"  October  25th.  Mr.  Davis  had  been  for 
some  time  complaining  that  his  light  suit  of 
gray  tweed  was  too  thin  for  the  increasing 
cold  of  the  days  on  the  ramparts  of  the  for 
tress,  and  finding  that  his  measure  was  with  a 
tailor  in  Washington,  I  requested  a  friend  of 
mine  to  call  there  and  order  a  good,  heavy  black 
pilot-cloth  overcoat  for  the  prisoner,  and  that 
the  bill  should  be  sent  to  me  ;  and  also  or 
dered  from  a  store  in  New  York  some  heavy 
flannels  to  make  Mr.  Davis  comfortable  for 
the  winter.*  These  acts  to  me  appearing 

*  I  had  also  sent  a  box  of  like  garments,  but  they  had,  General 
Miles  said,  never  been  received  ;  a  subsequent  one,  however,  was 
received. 


688  JEFFERSON  DAVIS. 

innocent,  and  even  laudable,  cause  great  trou 
ble,  as  may  be  seen  by  the  following  corre 
spondence,  finally  leading  to  a  peremptory 
order  which  almost  altogether  broke  off  the 
previously  free  relations  I  had  exercised  with 
Mr.  Davis. 

"  Mr.  Davis  referred  to  the  kindness  of 
Captain  Grisson,  of  the  staff  of  General  Miles, 
in  regard  to  a  little  matter  which,  though 
trivial  in  itself,  had  given  him  much  annoy 
ance.  It  arose  in  this  manner :  He  had  re 
quested  a  barber  to  be  sent  to  him,  as  his 
hair  was  growing  too  long.  Captain  Grisson 
brought  a  hairdresser,  but  on  the  termination 
of  the  operation  said  it  was  the  order  of  Gen 
eral  Miles  that  the  lopped  hair  should  be  car 
ried  to  headquarters.  To  this  Mr.  Davis 
objected,  first  from  a  horror  of  having  such 
trophies  or  'relics  '  paraded  around  the  coun 
try,  and  secondly,  because  he  wished  to  send 
it  to  Mrs.  Davis  ;  this  latter  probably  an  ex 
cuse  to  avoid  the  former  disagreeable  alterna 
tive.  Captain  Grisson  replied  that  his  orders 
were  peremptory,  but  if  Mr.  Davis  would  fold 
the  hair  up  in  a  newspaper,  and  leave  it  on  a 
designated  shelf  in  the  casemate,  the  captain 
would  step  over  to  headquarters,  report  the 
prisoner's  objections,  and  ask  for  further  or 
ders.  This  was  done,  and  Captain  Grisson 
soon  returned  with  the  glad  tidings  that  the 


TORTURES  INFLICTED  BY  GEN.   MILES.    689 

desire  to  obtain  possession  of  these  ' inter 
esting  relics  '  had  been  abandoned. 

"  The  change  to  Carroll  Hall,  as  it  was 
loftier,  had  been  of  the  greatest  benefit  to  the 
prisoner's  health,  the  air  being  purer,  his  own 
room  more  cheerful,  and  only  subject  to  the 
drawback  that  he  had  human  eyes  from  three 
directions  continually  fixed  upon  him  through 
the  grated  door  entering  his  room,  the  win 
dow  opening  on  the  piazza,  at  his  left,  and  the 
door  opposite  the  window,  with  an  open  panel 
in  it,  opposite  which  stood  a  sentry. 

"November  is.t.  Called  with  Brevet  Cap 
tain  Valentine  H.  Stone,  Fifth  United  States 
Artillery,  first  officer  of  the  day  from  the  new 
regiment  garrisoning  the  fort.  .  .  .  He 
appeared  to  scrutinize  Captain  Stone  with 
great  care,  asking  him  all  about  his  term  of 
service,  his  early  education,  etc.,  as  if  anxious 
to  find  out  everything  ascertainable  about 
the  new  men  into  whose  hands  he  had  fallen 
— an  operation  repeated  with  each  new  officer 
of  the  day  who  called  to  see  him.  Indeed, 
his  habit  of  analysis  appeared  universal  with 
the  prisoner.  It  seemed  as  if  he  put  into  a 
crucible  each  fresh  development  of  humanity 
that  crossed  his  path,  testing  it  therein  for  as 
long  as  the  interview  lasted,  and  then  care 
fully  inspecting  the  ingot  which  was  left  as  the 
result.  That  ingot,  whether  appearing  to  him 

VOL.  II.— 44 


690  JEFFERSON  DAVIS. 

pure  gold  or  baser  metal,  never  lost  its  char 
acter  to  his  mind. from  any  subsequent  ac 
quaintance. 

"  Mr.  Davis  said  it  was  scandalous  that 
Government  should  allow  General  Miles  to 
review  his  letters  to  his  wife.  They  had  to 
pass  through  the  hands  of  Attorney- General 
Speed,  who  should  be  a  quite  competent 
judge  of  offensive  matter,  or  what  was  deemed 
offensive.  General  Miles  had  returned  to 
him  several  pages  of  a  letter  written  to  Mrs. 
Davis,  containing  only  a  description  of  his 
new  prison  in  answer  to  her  inquiries,  the 
general  declaring  such  description  to  be  ob 
jectionable  ;  perhaps  suspecting  that  if  told 
where  he  was,  Mrs.  Davis  would  storm  the 
fort  and  rescue  him  vi  ct  armis. 

"  *  HEADQUARTERS  MILITARY  DISTRICT,  FORT  MONROE, 
"  'November  10,  1865. 

"  '  SIR  :  The  Major-General  commanding 
directs  me  to  inquire  of  you  if  any  orders  have 
been  given  by  you,  or  through  you,  for  an 
overcoat  for  Jefferson  Davis, 

"  'Such  a  report  appeared  in  the  papers. 
"  '  Very  respectfully, 

"'  A.  V.  HITCHCOCK, 
"  '  Captain  and  Provost  Marshal! 

"  To  which  on  the  same  date  I  returned  the 
following  answer ; 


TORTURES  INFLICTED  BY  GEN.   MILES.     691 


"  'OFFICE  OF  POST  SURGEON, 
"  '  FORT  MONROE,  November  loth. 


"  '  CAPTAIN  :  I  have  received  the  communi 
cation  dated  November  loth,  Headquarters 
Military  District,  Fort  Monroe,  in  which  the 
Major-General  commanding  directs  you  to 
inquire  if  any  orders  have  been  given  by  me, 
or  through  me,  for  an  overcoat  for  Jefferson 
Davis. 

"  '  In  reply,  I  would  respectfully  state  that 
I  did  order  a  thick  overcoat,  woollen  drawers, 
and  undershirts  for  Jefferson  Davis.  I  found, 
as  the  cold  weather  approached,  he  needed 
thick  garments,  the  prisoner  being  feeble  in 
health,  and  the  winds  of  the  coast  cold  and 
piercing. 

"  '  I  have  the  honor  to  be, 

"  '  Very  respectfully  your  obedient  servant, 

(Signed)  "  '  JOHN  J.  CRAVEN, 

"  'Brevet   Lieutenant- Colonel,    Surgeon 
United  States  Army. 

"  <  CAPTAIN  A.  O.  HITCHCOCK,  A.  D.  C.' 

"  That  objection  to  my  action  in  the  matter 
should  have  been  made,  was  about  the  last 
thing  I  should  have  expected — the  prisoner's 
health  being  under  my  charge,  and  warm 
clothing  for  cold  weather  being  obviously  one 
of  the  first  necessities  to  a  patient  in  so  feeble 
a  condition.  Let  me  add,  that  Mr,  Davis  had 


692  JEFFERSOAT  DAVIS. 

never  asked  for  the  warm  clothing  I  deemed 
requisite,  and  that  sending  for  it,  and  insisting 
upon  its  acceptance,  had  been  with  me  a 
purely  professional  act.  •  In  the  valise  belong 
ing  to  Mr.  Davis,  which  was  kept  at  the 
headquarters  of  General  Miles,  no  heavy 
clothing  could  be  found,  merely  containing  a 
few  articles  of  apparel  chiefly  designed  for  the 
warm  climate  of  the  South.  General  Miles, 
however,  took  a  different  view  of  my  action, 
to  judge  from  the  following  letter  : 


" «  HEADQUARTERS  MILITARY  DISTRICT,  FORT  MONROE, 
"  'November  18,  1865. 

"  '  COLONEL  :  The  Major-General  command 
ing  directs  that,  in  future,  you  give  no  orders 
for  Jefferson  Davis  without  first  communicat 
ing  with  these  head  districts. 

"  Also,  that  in  future,  your  conversations 
with  him  will  be  confined  strictly  to  profes 
sional  matters,  and  that  you  comply  with  the 
instructions  regarding  the  meals  to  be  fur 
nished  to  prisoners  Davis  and  Clay,  and  have 
them  delivered  more  promptly.  Also,  report 
the  price  paid  for  Mr.  Davis's  overcoat,  and 
by  whom  paid. 

"  '  A.  O.  HITCHCOCK, 
"  '  Captain  and  A.  D.  C. 
"  'BREVET  LIEUTENANT-COLONEL).  J.  CRAVEN, 
Post  Surgeon' 


TO&TI/R&S  iNFLlCtEti  BY  GEN.  MlL£$.    69} 

"  This  order  I  then  regarded  as  cruel  and 
unnecessary,  nor  has  subsequent  reflection 
changed  my  opinion.  The  meals  for  Mr. 
Davis  I  had  sent  at  hours  to  suit  his  former 
habits  and  present  desires — two  meals  a  day 
at  such  time  as  he  felt  most  appetite.  I  was 
now  ordered  to  send  his  meals  three  times  a 
day,  and  at  hours  which  did  not  meet  his 
wishes,  and  were  very  inconvenient  to  my 
family,  his  meals  being  invariably  sent  over 
at  the  same  hour  I  had  mine.  The  order  to 
abstain  from  anything  but  professional  con 
versation  was  a  yet  greater  medical  hardship, 
as  to  a  man  in  the  nervous  condition  of  Mr. 
Davis,  a  friend  with  whom  he  feels  free  to 
converse  is  a  valuable  relief  from  the  mood- 
iness  of  silent  reflection. 

"  '  CAPTAIN  A.   O.   HITCHCOCK,  A.  D.  C. 

"  '  CAPTAIN  :  I  have  the  honor  to  acknowl 
edge  the  receipt  of  your  communication 
dated  Headquarters  Military  District,  Fort 
Monroe,  Va.,  November  18,  1865  ;  and  in  an 
swer  to  your  inquiry  concerning  the  cost  of 
the  coat  ordered  by  me  for  Mr.  Davis,  I  would 
say: 

"  '  That  I  do  not  know  the  cost  of  the  coat ; 
I  have  not  yet  received  the  bill.  As  soon  as 
received,  I  will  forward  it  to  the  Major-Gen 
eral  commanding.  I  do  not  know  that  any 


694  JEFFERSON  DA 

person  paid  for  the  coat,  having  directed  that 
the  bill  should  be  sent  to  me  when   ordering 
it. 
"  '  I  remain,  Captain,  very  respectfully, 

"  '  JOHN  J.  CRAVEN, 

"  '  Brevet  Lieutenant-  Colonel  and  Post  Sur 
geon  and  Chief  Medical  Officer,  Military 
District,  Fort  Monroe,  Va! 

"  November  8th.  Major  Charles  P.  Muhl- 
enburgh,  Captain  S.  A.  Day,  and  many 
others,  displaying  both  generosity  and  con 
sideration  in  their  treatment  of  the  distin 
guished  captive. 

"  His  self-control  was  the  feature  of  his 
character,  knowing  that  his  temper  had  been 
high  and  proud,  which  most  struck  me  during 
my  attendance.  His  reticence  was  remarked 
on  subjects  where  he  knew  we  must  differ  ; 
and  though  occasionally  speaking  with  free 
dom  of  slavery,  it  was  as  a  philosopher  rather 
than  as  a  politician — rather  as  a  friend  to  the 
negro,  and  one  sorry  for  his  inevitable  fate  in 
the  future,  than  with  rancor  or  acrimony 
against  those  opponents  of  the  institution 
whom  he  persisted  in  regarding  as  respon 
sible  for  the  war,  with  all  its  attendant  hor 
rors  and  sacrifices. 

"  Mr.  Davis  is  remarkable  for  the  kindli 
ness  of  his  nature  and  fidelity  to  friends.  Of 


TORTURES  INFLICTED   BY  GEN.   MILES.    £95 

none  of  God's  creatures  does  he  seem  to  wish 
or  speak  unkindly  ;  and  the  same  fault  found 
with  Mr.  Lincoln — unwillingness  to  sanction 
the  military  severities  essential  to  maintain 
discipline — is  the  fault  I  have  heard  most 
strongly  urged  against  Mr.  Davis." 

Dr.  Craven  concluded  his  diary,  because  his 
other  visits  were  limited  to  mere  medical  exam 
inations  of  the  prisoner's  condition.  Shortly 
after  Mr.  Davis's  removal  to  Carroll  Hall,  Dr. 
Craven  was  ordered  away,  and  Dr.  Cooper, 
a  man  equally  kind-hearted  and  attentive,  was 
stationed  at  the  fort. 


CHAPTER   LXVIII. 

HON.    HUGH   MACCULLOCH'S     VISIT     TO     JEFFERSON 
DAVIS   AT   FORTRESS  MONROE. 

THE  fact  of  the  utter  failure  of  Mr.  Davis's 
health  could  no  longer  be  concealed  by  Gen 
eral  Miles's  assurances  of  his  comfort  and  the 
salubrity  of  his  surroundings,  and  the  Hon 
orable  Hugh  MacCulloch,  Secretary  of  the 
Treasury,  determined  to  visit  the  prisoner 
at  President  Johnson's  suggestion.  In  his 
"  Men  and  Measures  of  Half  a  Century," 
published  in  1889,  he  describes  his  inter 
view  with  Mr.  Davis  at  Fortress  Monroe.  I 
have  taken  the  liberty  of  condensing  his 
statement. 

"  The  question  what  shall  be  done  to  the 
Confederate  leader  was  referred  to  at  Mr. 
Lincoln's  last  meeting  with  his  Cabinet.  Mr. 
Lincoln  merely  remarked  in  his  humorous 
way :  '  I  am  a  good  deal  like  the  Irishman 
who  had  joined  a  temperance  society,  but 
thought  he  might  take  a  drink  now  and  then 
if  he  drank  unbeknown  to  himself.  A  good 
many  people  think  that  all  the  big  Confeder 
ates  ought  to  be  arrested  and  tried  as  traitors. 
Perhaps  they  ought  to  be,  but  I  should  be 


VtSlT  Id  MR.  DAVIS.    69? 

right  glad  if  they  would  get  out  of  the  country 
unbeknown  to  me.' 

"  This  question  came  up  in  the  case  of 
Jefferson  Davis  soon  after  Mr.  Johnson  be 
came  President.  Some  action  must  be  taken 
in  his  case  ;  what  should  it  be  ?  He  was  the 
most  conspicuous  of  the  enemies  of  the  Gov 
ernment.  By  the  people  of  the  North  he 
was  regarded  as  the  arch-traitor  upon  whose 
head  vengeance  should  be  visited.  Should  he 
be  liberated,  or  should  he  be  arraigned  for 
treason  ?  and,  if  arraigned,  should  he  be  tried 
by  a  military  commission  or  a  United  States 
court  ?  These  were  questions  which  re 
quired  careful  consideration  both  in  their  legal 
and  political  bearings. 

"  The  legal  question:  'Has  Mr.  Davis  been 
guilty  of  such  acts  of  treason  that  he  can  be 
successfully  prosecuted  ? '  was  submitted  to  the 
Attorney-General,  who,  after  a  thorough  ex 
amination  of  it  and  consultation  with  some  of 
the  ablest  lawyers  in  the  country,  came  to  the 
conclusion  that  Mr.  Davis  could  not  be  con 
victed  of  treason  by  any  competent  and  inde 
pendent  tribunal,  and  that  therefore  he  ought 
not  to  be  tried.  This  conclusion  was  un 
doubtedly  correct.  It  was  a  revolution,  a 
general  uprising  of  the  South  against  the  Gov 
ernment.  The  war  in  which  they  had  been 
engaged  was  of  such  proportions  that  belli- 


698  JEFFERSON  DAVIS. 

gerent  rights  had  been  accorded  them  by  for 
eign  governments.  Our  Government,  by  ex 
change  of  prisoners  and  other  acts,  had 
acknowledged  the  fact ;  treason,  therefore, 
could  not  be  charged,  nor  could  one  of  their 
number  be  legally  convicted  of  the  crime.  It 
was  clear  that  if  Mr.  Davis  had  been  guilty  of 
treasonable  acts,  they  were  committed  in  the 
Southern  States,  where  conviction  would  be  im 
possible.  The  President  was  chagrined  by  the 
decision,  which  was  enforced  upon  the  opinions 
of  the  Attorney-General  and  other  eminent 
lawyers.  He  was  committed  by  his  vindictive 
speeches  made  at  the  commencement  of  his  ad- 
t  ministration,  but  he  saw  the  correctness  of  it, 
and  from  that  time  he  pushed  his  generosity 
to  those  whom  he  had  denounced  as  traitors 
to  an  extreme.  Mr.  Davis's  position  made 
him  the  most  conspicuous,  but  he  was  no  more 
guilty  than  many  others  against  whom  no 
proceedings  were  contemplated.  There  was 
no  evidence  that  he  was  responsible  for  the 
horrors  of  Andersonville,  or  the  general  treat 
ment  to  which  Union  soldiers  were  subjected 
in  Southern  prisons.  He  was,  however,  kept 
in  confinement  until  the  spring  of  1867,  when 
he  was  brought  before  the  United  States 
Court  at  Richmond  on  the  charge  of  treason, 
and  admitted  to  bail.  He  was  not  tried, 
although  he  expressed  a  desire  to  be,  nor 


MACCULLOCH^S   VISIT  TO  MR.  DAVIS.    699 

was  he  among  those  who  asked  to  be  par 
doned. 

"  When  the  question  was  pending,  the 
President  sent  for  me  one  day  and  said  that 
he  would  like  to  have  me  go  unofficially  to 
Fortress  Monroe,  and  ascertain  whether  or 
not  the  reports  that  had  reached  him  about 
the  treatment  of  Mr.  Davis  were  true.  .  ;  ; 

"  A  few  days  after  the  request  was  made, 
I  was  able  to  comply  with  it. 

"  On  my  arrival  at  the  fortress,  Mr.  Davis 
was  walking  upon  the  ramparts  accompanied 
by  a  couple  of  soldiers.  I  was  glad  to  notice 
that  his  gait  was  erect,  his  step  elastic,  and, 
when  he  came  nearer,  that  he  had  not  the 
appearance  of  one  who  was  suffering  in 
health  by  his  imprisonment.  I  spent  an  hour 
or  two  in  conversation  with  him. 

"  '  I  was/  he  said,  '  in  the  first  two  or  three 
months  of  my  imprisonment  treated  bar 
barously,  but  now  I  am  permitted  to  have  a 
daily  walk,  and  my  present  quarters,  as  you 
perceive,  are  such  as  a  prisoner  charged  with 
high  treason  ought  not  to  complain  of — a  cot, 
a  small  pine  table,  and  two  cane-bottomed 
chairs.  The  cot  and  chairs  were  hard,  and  of 
the  plainest  and  cheapest  kind,  but  the  room 
was  clean  and  well  lighted.  There  was  not. 
much  need  of  light,  for  the  only  book  in  the 
room  was  an  old  treatise  upon  military  tactics 


><*>  JEFFERSON  DAVIS. 

— a  subject  which  was  not  then  especially  in 
teresting  to  the  prisoner.  Newspapers  were 
forbidden  to  him.  My  interview  was  very 
pleasant.  There  have  been  few  men  more 
gifted  than  Mr.  Davis,  and  few  whose  oppor 
tunities  for  intellectual  culture  have  been 
better  improved.  I  had  not  known  him 
personally,  but  I  knew  what  his  standing  was 
among  the  able  men  of  the  country,  and  ex 
pected  to  meet  in  him  an  accomplished  gentle 
man.  To  those  who  knew  him  well,  it  is  not 
necessary  to  say  that  I  was  not  disappointed, 
and  that  I  was  most  favorably  impressed  with 
his  manner  and  conversation.  I  was  his  first 
visitor,  and  he  seemed  to  be  pleased  with  my 
visit  and  with  the  opportunity  which  it  gave 
to  him  for  a  free  talk.  He  was  indisposed  to 
say  much  about  himself,  and  it  was  only  by 
direct  questions  that  I  learned  the  facts  in 
regard  to  the  barbarous  treatment  to  which 
he  had  referred.  '  I  was,'  he  said,  '  when 
brought  to  the  fortress,  not  only  strictly  con 
fined  to  a  casemate,  which  was  little  better 
than  a  dungeon,  but  I  was  heavily  ironed. 
As  I  had  been  a  submissive  prisoner,  and  was 
in  a  strong  fortress,  I  thought  that  chains 
were  unnecessary,  and  that  I  ought  not  to  be 
subject  to  them.  I  resisted  being  shackled, 
but  resistance  was  vain.  I  was  thrown  vio 
lently  upon  the  floor  and  heavily  fettered. 


MACCULLOCH'S    VISIT  TO   MR.  DAVIS.     701 

This  was  not  all.  The  casemate  in  which  I 
was  confined  was  kept  constantly  and  bril 
liantly  lighted,  and  I  was  never  relieved  of  the 
presence  of  a  couple  of  soldiers.  My  eyes 
were  weak  and  sensitive,  I  suffered  keenly 
from  the  light,  and  you  may  judge  how  my 
sufferings  were  aggravated  by  my  not  being 
permitted  for  months  to  have  one  moment  to 
myself.'  I  listened  silently  to  this  statement, 
given  substantially  in  his  own  language  ;  but 
I  felt  as  he  did,  that  he  had  for  a  time  been 
barbarously  treated.  Chains  were  unneces 
sary,  and  the  constant  presence  of  the  guards 
in  the  casemate  must  have  been  to  a  sensitive 
man  worse  than  solitary  confinement,  which  is 
now  regarded  as  being  too  inhuman  to  be  in 
flicted  upon  the  greatest  criminals.  I  hap 
pened  to  know  some  of  his  personal  friends 
in  the  West,  and  he  had  a  great  deal  to  talk 
about  without  saying  much  about  himself. 
He  seemed  to  be  neither  depressed  in  spirits 
nor  soured  in  temper.  He  could  not  help 
saying  something  about  the  war,  but  he  said 
nothing  in  the  way  of  justification  or  defence. 
He  had  the  bearing  of  a  brave  and  high-bred 
gentleman,  who,  knowing  that  he  would  have 
been  highly  honored  if  the  Southern  States 
had  achieved  their  independence,  would  not 
and  could  not  demean  himself  as  a  criminal 
because  they  had  not.  The  only  anxiety  he 


702  JEFFERSON  DAVIS. 

expressed  was  in  regard  to  his  trial,  not  as  to 
the  result,  but  the  time.  He  thought  the 
delay  was  unnecessary  and  unjust.  He  was 
kept  in  prison  for  two  years  before  he  was 
arraigned  and  released  on  bail  ;  and,  strangely 
enough,  Horace  Greeley  and  Gerritt  Smith, 
the  distinguished  abolitionists,  were  among 
the  signers  of  his  bond."  * 

*  Men  and  Measures  of  Half  a  Century,  page  408. 


CHAPTER   LXIX. 

LETTERS    FROM    PRISON. 

MR.  DAVIS'S  letters  will  best  express  the 
cruelties  of  his  duress,  which  may  be  read  be 
tween  the  lines. 

From  Mr.  Davis  to  Mrs.  Davis. 

"  FORTRESS  MONROE,  August  21,  1865. 

"  I  am  now  permitted  to  write  to  you 
under  two  conditions,  viz.,  that  I  confine  my 
self  to  family  matters,  and  that  my  letter  shall 
be  examined  by  the  United  States  Attorney- 
General  before  it  is  sent  to  you. 

"  This  will  sufficiently  explain  to  you  the 
omission  of  subjects  on  which  you  would  de 
sire  me  to  write.  I  presume  it  is,  however, 
permissible  for  me  to  relieve  your  disappoint 
ment  in  regard  to  my  silence  on  the  subject  of 
future  action  toward  me,  by  stating  that  of 
the  purpose  of  the  authorities  I  know  noth 
ing 

"  I  often  think  of  '  old  Uncle  Bob/  and 
always  with  painful  anxiety.  If  Sam  has  re 
joined  him  he  will  do  all  in  his  power  for  the 
old  man's  comfort  and  safety. 

''The  Smith  land  had  better  be  returned  to 


704  JEFFERSON  DAVIS. 

the  heirs.*  No  deed  was  made,  and  the  pay 
ments  were  for  movable  effects  and  for  inter 
est  ;  their  right  to  the  land,  which  alone  re 
mains,  clearly  revives,  since  I  am  unable  to 
make  the  payment  which  is  I  believe  due,  and 
shall  be  unable  to  fulfil  the  engagements 
hereafter  to  mature  ;  therefore,  the  sooner 
the  case  is  disposed  of,  the  better.  .  .  ;  ^-1 
have  the  prayer-book  you  sent,  but  the  mem 
orandum  placed  in  it  was  withheld.  .  .  . 

"  .  .  .  The  confidence  in  the  shield  of 
innocence  with  which  I  tried  to  quiet  your  ap 
prehensions  and  to  dry  your  tears  at  our  part 
ing,  sustains  me  still. f  If  your  fears  have 
proved  more  prophetic  than  my  hopes,  yet  do 
not  despond.  '  Tarry  thou  the  Lord's  leisure, 
be  strong,  and  He  will  comfort  thy  heart.' 
Every  day,  twice  or  oftener,  I  repeat  the 
prayer  of  St.  Chrysostom 

"  To  the  surgeon  and  regimental  chaplain  I 
am  under  many  obligations  ;  the  officers  of  the 
guard  and  of  the  day  have  shown  me  increased 
consideration,  such  as  their  orders  would  per- 


*  A  plantation  Mr.  Davis  bought  during  the  war,  and  which  the 
State  law  would  have  permitted  him  to  retain  until  able  to  pay  for  it, 
but,  keenly  alive  to  the  rights  of  others,  he  relinquished  it. 

f  He  leaned  over  me  in  bidding  good-by  on  the  ship,  and  whis 
pered,  "No  matter  what  proof  is  adduced  by  the  North,  remember 
that  my  dying  testimony  was  to  you  that  I  had  nothing  to  do  with 
assassination,  or  causing  any  other  deed  unworthy  of  a  soldier,  or  of 
our  cause."  With  this  assurance,  he  bade  farewell. 


LETTERS  FROM  PRISON.  705 

mit.  The  unjust  accusations  which  have  been 
made  against  me  in  the  newspapers  of  the  day 
might  well  have  created  prejudices  against 
me.  I  have  had  no  opportunity  to  refute 
them  by  proof,  .  .  .  ;  and  can,  therefore, 
only  attribute  the  perceptible  change  to  those 
good  influences  which  are  always  at  work  to 
confound  evil  designs 

"  Be  not  alarmed  by  speculative  reports 
concerning  my  condition.  You  can  rely  on 
my  fortitude,  and  God  has  given  me  much  of 
resignation  to  His  blessed  will 

"  Men  are  apt  to  be  verbose  when  they 
speak  of  themselves,  and  suffering  has  a  rare 
power  to  develop  selfishness,  so  I  have  wan 
dered  from  the  subject  on  which  I  proposed 
to  write,  and  have  dwelt  upon  a  person  whose 
company  I  have  for  some  time  past  kept  so 
exclusively  that  it  must  be  strange  if  he  has 
not  become  tiresome 

<(  It  has  been  reported  in  the  newspapers 
that  you  had  applied  for  permission  to  visit 
me  in  my  confinement ;  if  you  had  been  al 
lowed  to  do  so  the  visit  would  have  caused 
you  disappointment  at  the  time,  and  bitter 
memories  afterward.  You  would  not  have 
been  allowed  to  hold  private  conversation 
with  me 

"  Remember  how  good  the  Lord  has  al 
ways  been  to  me,  how  often  He  has  wonder- 

VOL.  II.— 45 


706  JEFFERSON  DA  VIS. 

fully    preserved    me,  and    put    your   trust  in 
Him.     ...  "  JEFFERSON  DAVIS." 

From  Mr.  Davis  to  Mrs.  Davis. 

"  FORTRESS  MONROE,  VA.,  September  15,  1865. 

"  .  .  .  As  only  an  occasional  newspaper 
is  given  me,  I  cannot  know  whether  any  re 
plies  are  made  to  the  fictions  published  in  re 
gard  to  myself;  as  their  effect  is  not  merely 
to  prejudice  public  opinion  against  myself, 
but  extends  likewise  to  those  who  were  polit 
ically  associated  with  me,  it  would  not  seem 
probable  that  even  the  timidity  of  this  day 
would  keep  silent  all  whose  justification  is  the 
truth 

"Tell  me  when  you  write  whether  your 
personal  property,  seized  by  the  command 
which  captured  us,  has  been  restored.  I  ex 
pected  Generals  Johnston  and  Sherman 
would  regard  the  expedition  as  contrary  to 
their  agreements  and  take  corresponding  ac 
tion,  which  would  at  least  bear  on  the  ques 
tion  of  property  claimed  as  the  capture  of 
war.  If  they,  or  either  of  them,  have  done  so, 
the  fact  has  not  become  known  to  me.  Gen 
eral  Sherman,  however,  I  observe,  indignant 
ly  repels  the  idea  of  my  having  specie  enough 
to  buy  him,  at  the  same  time  declining  to 
state  his  price.  All  I  can  say  on  the  point  is 
that  if  he  was  to  bring  no  more  than  Beadle 


LETTERS  FROM  PRISON.  707 

Bumble  did,  I  could  not  have  made  the  pur 
chase." 

From  Mr.  Davis  to  Mrs.  Davis. 

"  FORTRESS  MONROE,  September  26,  1865. 

"  .  .  .  It  is  true  that  my  strength  has 
greatly  failed  me,  and  the  loss  of  sleep  has 
created  a  morbid  excitability,  but  an  unseen 
hand  has  sustained  me,  and  a  peace  the  world 
could  not  give  and  has  not  been  able  to  de 
stroy,  will,  I  trust,  uphold  me  to  meet  with 
resignation  whatever  may  befall  me. 

"  If  one  is  to  answer  for  all,  upon  him  it 
most  naturally  and  properly  falls.  If  I  alone 
could  bear  all  the  suffering  of  the  country, 
and  relieve  it  from  further  calamity,  I  trust 
our  Heavenly  father  would  give  me  strength 
to  be  a  willing  sacrifice  ;  and  if,  in  a  lower  de 
gree,  some  of  those  who  called  me  (I  being 
then  absent)  to  perform  their  behests,  shall 
throw  on  me  the  whole  responsibility,  let  us 
rejoice  at  least  in  their  escape,  expecting  for 
them  a  returning  sense  of  justice  when  the 
stumbling-blocks  of  fear  and  selfishness  shall 
have  been  removed  from  their  paths. 

"  The  great  mass,  accepting  the  present 
condition  of  affairs  as  the  result  of  the  war,  and 
directing  their  attention  to  the  future  issues 
which  are  involved  in  the  changes  produced, 
would  bury  the  inevitable  past  with  the  sor 
row  which  is  unmingled  with  shame.  .  .  • 


CHAPTER  LXX. 

ACCOUNT  OF  JOURNEY  TO  SAVANNAH. 

Letter  to  Dr.  Craven. 

I  WROTE  to  Mr.  Davis,  hoping  from  the 
youth  of  General  Miles  some  sympathetic 
impulse,  and  that  he  would  read  such  parts  of 
the  letter  to  him  as  he  might  think  unobjec 
tionable  ;  but  the  letter  was  suppressed,  and 
I  wrote  another  to  Dr.  Craven,  intended  for 
Mr.  Davis's  information,  which  gives  enough 
of  the  details  of  our  travels.  After  this  time 
I  wrote  often  to  the  good  doctor. 

MILL  VIEW  (NEAR  AUGUSTA,  GA.),  October  10,  1865. 

"  COLONEL  JOHN  J.  CRAVEN  :  .  .  .  I 
dread  paralysis  for  him,  his  nerves  have  been 
so  highly  strung  for  years  without  relief.  If 
you  can,  and  perhaps  you  may,  prevail  upon 
the  authorities  to  let  him  sleep  without  a 
light.  He  is  too  feeble  to  escape,  and  could 
not  bear  a  light  in  his  room  when  in  strong 
health.  The  sequel  of  these  attacks  has  al 
ways  been  an  attack  of  amaurosis,  and  in  one 
of  them  he  lost  his  eye.  It  first  came  on 
with  an  attack  of  acute  neuralgia. 


ACCOUNT  OF   JOURNEY  TO  SAVANNAH.     709 

"  When  he  was  taken  from  me  on  the  ship, 
the  provost-guard  and  some  women  detect 
ives  came  on  board,  and  after  the  women 
searched  our  persons,  the  men  searched  our 
baggage. 

"  .  .  .  They  then  told  my  servants  that 
they  could  go  ashore  if  they  did  not  desire  to 
go  to  Savannah.  The  husband  of  my  faith 
ful  colored  nurse  forced  her  to  go.  I  entreat 
ed  to  be  permitted  to  debark  at  Charleston,  as 
my  sister,  Miss  Howell,  still  continued  to  be 
ill,  and  I  feared  to  return  on  the  ship  with  a 
drunken  purser,  who  had  previously  required 
Colonel  Pritchard's  authority  to  keep  him  in 
order  ;  and  going  back,  Mrs.  Clay,  my  sister, 
and  myself  would  be  the  only  women  on  the 
ship — but  this  was  refused.  Acting  as  my  own 
chambermaid  and  nurse,  and  the  nurse  also 
of  my  sister,  we  started  for  Savannah.  We 
had  a  fearful  gale,  in  which  the  upper  decks 
once  or  twice  dipped  water,  and  no  one  could 
walk. 

"  God  protected  us  from  the  fury  of  the 
elements  ;  but  the  soldiers  now  began  to  open 
and  rob  our  trunks  again.  The  crew,  how 
ever,  gave  us  some  protection,  and  one  of  the 
officers  in  the  engine-room  gave  up  his  cabin 
and  locked  everything  we  had  left  up  in  it. 
The  Lieutenant  of  the  Fourteenth  Maine, 
Mr.  Grant,  though  a  plain  man,  had  the  heart 


710  JEFFERSON  DAVIS. 

of  a  gentleman,  and  took  care  of  us  with 
the  greatest  assiduity.  Some  of  the  soldiers 
and  crew  helped  me  to  nurse,  and  saved  me 
many  an  hour  of  wakefulness  and  fatigue. 

"  My  little  daughter  Maggie  was  quite  like 
an  old  woman  ;  she  took  her  sister  early  every 
morning — for  the  nights  were  so  rough  I 
could  not  sleep,  because  it  was  necessary  to 
hold  the  infant  to  avoid  bruising  it — and  with 
the  assistance  of  our  faithful  servant  Robert, 
who  held  her  still  while  she  held  her  sister, 
she  nursed  her  long  enough  for  me  to  rest. 
Little  Jeff  and  I  did  the  housekeeping ;  it  was 
a  fair  division  of  labor,  and  not  unpleasant,  as 
it  displayed  the  good  hearts  of  my  children. 

"  Arrived  at  Savannah,  we  trudged  up  to 
the  hotel  quite  in  emigrant  fashion.  My  sis 
ter  with  the  baby,  and  Robert  with  the  bag 
gage  ;  I,  with  my  two  little  sons,  little  Maggie, 
in  quite  an  old-fashioned  manner,  keeping  all 
straight  and  acting  as  parcel-carrier  ;  for  we 
could  not  procure  any  carriage  and  must  walk 
until  we  reached  the  Pulaski  House,  where, 
after  a  day  and  night,  we  procured  comfort 
able  rooms. 

"  A  black  waiter,  upon  answering  my  bell, 
and  being  told  to  call  my  man-servant  Rob 
ert,  replied  very  impertinently  that,  'if  he 
should  see  Robert  he  would  give  the  order, 
but  did  not  expect  to  see  him.'  When  Rob- 


ACCOUNT  OF   JOURNEY  TO  SAVANNAH.     711 

ert  heard  it,  he  waited  till  all  the  black  ser 
vants  had  assembled  at  dinner,  and  then  re 
marked  that  he  should  hate  to  believe  there 
was  a  colored  man  so  low  as  to  insult  a  dis 
tressed  woman  ;  but  if  so,  though  a  peaceable 
man,  he  should  whip  the  first  who  did  so. 
The  guilty  man  began  to  excuse  himself, 
whereupon  Robert  said:  '  Oh,  it  was  you, 
was  it  ?  Well,  you  do  look  mean  enough  for 
that  or  anything  else.'  From  that  time  all 
the  greatest  assiduity  could  do  was  done  for 
me,  first  from  esprit  de  corps,  and  then  from 
kind  feeling. 

"  The  people  of  Savannah  treated  me  with 
the  greatest  tenderness.     Had  I  been  a  sister 

o 

long  absent  and  just  returned  to  their  home, 
I  could  not  have  received  more  tender  wel 
come.  Houses  were  thrown  open  to  me, 
anything  and  everything  was  mine.  My  chil 
dren  had  not  much  more  than  a  change  of 
clothing  after  all  the  parties  who  had  us  in 
charge  had  done  lightening  our  baggage,  so 
they  gave  the  baby  dresses,  and  the  other  lit 
tle  ones  enough  to  change  until  I  could  buy 
or  make  more. 

"  Unfortunately  for  me,  General ,  who, 

I  hear,  was  '  not  to  the  manner  born/  was  in 
command  of  the  district  at  the  time.  I  asked 
permission  to  see  him,  and  as  I  was  so  unwell 
that  I  could  not  speak  above  my  breath  with 


;i2  JEFFERSON  DAVIS. 

a  cold,  and  suffered  from  fever  constantly — 
the  result  of  exposure  on  the  ship — I  wrote  to 
beg  that  he  would  come  to  see  me,  for  his 
aide  had  told  me  the  night  before  that  I  could 
not  be  permitted  to  leave  Savannah,  and  hav 
ing  been  robbed  of  nearly  all  my  means,  I 
could  not  afford  to  stay  at  the  hotel.  Besides, 
as  soon  as  I  reached  the  hotel,  detectives 
were  placed  to  watch  both  me  and  my  visit 
ors,  so  I  did  not  feel  at  liberty,  thus  accom 
panied,  to  go  to  private  houses. 

"General 's  aide,  whose  animus    was 

probably  irreproachable,  but  whose  orthogra 
phy  was  very  bad,  was  directed  to  tell  me 
that,  except  under  very  extraordinary  circum 
stances,  he  did  not  go  out  of  his  office,  and 
'  all  such  '  (which  I  afterward  found  to  mean 
myself)  '  as  desired  to  see  him  would  call  at 
his  office/  To  which  I  answered,  that  I 
thought  illness  and  my  circumstances  consti 
tuted  an  extraordinary  case  ;  but  that  I  was 
sorry  to  have  asked  anything  which  he  '  felt 
called  upon  so  curtly  to  refuse.'  On  the  fol 
lowing  day  I  went,  accompanied  by  General 
Hugh  Mercer.  Need  I  say  that  Gen 
eral  did  himself  justice,  and  verified  my 

preconceived  opinion  of  him  in  our  interview, 
in  which  he  told  me  he  '  guessed  I  could  not 
telegraph  to  Washington,  write  to  the  heads 
of  departments  there,  or  to  anybody,  except 


ACCOUNT  OF   JOURNEY  TO  SAVANNAH.     713 

through  the  regular  channel  approved  ; '  and 
I  could  not  write  to  my  friends,  '  except 
through  the  Provost-Marshal's  office  ; '  and 
that  I  was  permitted  to  pay  my  expenses,  but 
must  remain  within  the  limits  of  Savannah. 

"With  many  thanks  for  this  large  liberty 
accorded  so  graciously,  I  bowed  myself  out, 
first  having  declined  to  get  soldiers'  rations 
by  application  for  them  to  this  Government. 

"  In  this  condition  I  remained  for  many 
weeks,  until,  fortunately  for  me,  General  Birge 
relieved  him,  but  had  it  not  in  his  power, 
however,  to  remove  the  restrictions  any  fur 
ther  than  to  take  the  detectives  away,  of  whom 
I  heard,  but  did  not  see.  General  Birge  per 
mitted  me  to  write  unrestrictedly  to  whom  I 
pleased,  and  appeared  anxious,  in  the  true 
spirit  of  a  gentleman,  to  offer  all  the  courte 
sies  he  consistently  could. 

"  My  baby  caught  the  whooping-cough, 
and  was  ill  almost  unto  death  for  some  days 
with  the  fever  which  precedes  the  cough  ;  and 
then  she  slowly  declined.  I  did  what  I  could 
to  give  her  fresh  air  ;  but  the  heat  was  so  in 
tense,  the  insects  so  annoying,  and  the  two 
rooms  such  close  quarters,  that  she  and  I  suf 
fered  much  more  than  I  hope  you  or  yours 
will  ever  know  by  experience. 

"  My  most  acute  agony  arose  from  the  pub 
lication  and  republication,  in  the  Savannah  Re- 


7  H  JEFFERSON-  DA  vis. 

publican  of  the  shackling  scene  in  Mr.  Davis's 
casemate,  which  to  think  of  stops  my  heart's 
vibration.  It  was  piteous  to  hear  the  little 
children  pray  at  their  grace,  '  That  the  Lord 
would  give  father  something  which  he  could 
eat,  and  keep  him  strong,  and  bring  him  back 
to  us  with  his  good  senses,  to  his  little  chil 
dren,  for  Christ's  sake  ; '  and  nearly  every 
day,  during  the  hardest  and  bitterest  of  his 
imprisonment,  our  little  child  Maggie  had  to 
quit  the  table  to  dry  her  tears  after  this  grace, 
which  was  of  her  own  composition. 

"  I  believe  I  should  have  lost  my  senses  if 
these  severities  had  been  persevered  in,  for  I 
could  neither  eat  nor  sleep  for  a  week;  but 
the  information  of  the  change  effected  by  your 
advice,  relieved  me ;  and  I  have  thanked  God 
nightly  for  your  brave  humanity. 

"  Though  I  ate,  slept,  and  lived  in  my  room, 
rarely  or  never  going  out  in  the  day,  and  only 
walking  out  late  at  night,  with  Robert  for 
protection,  I  could  not  keep  my  little  ones  so 
closely  confined.  Little  Jeff  and  Billy  went 
out  on  the  street  to  play,  and  there  Jeff  was 
constantly  told  that  he  was  rich  ;  that  his 
father  had  '  stolen  eight  millions/  etc.  Little 
two-year-old  Billy  was  taught  to  sing,  '  We'll 
hang  Jeff  Davis  on  a  sour  apple-tree,'  by  giv 
ing  him  a  reward  when  he  did  so.  The  little 
thing  finally  told  me  one  day,  '  You  thinks 


ACCOUNT  OF   JOURNEY  TO  SAVANNAH,     71$ 

I'se  somebody;  so  is  you  ;  so  is  father;  but 
you  is  not ;  so  is  not  any  of  us  but  me.  I  am 
a  Yankee  every  time/  The  rough  soldiers, 
doubtless,  meant  to  be  kind,  but  such  things 
wounded  me  to  the  quick.  They  took  him 
and  made  him  snatch  apples  off  the  stalls,  if 
Robert  lost  sight  of  him  for  a  moment. 

"  Finally,  two  women  from  Maine  contem 
plated  whipping  him,  because  they  found  out 
that  he  was  his  father's  son  ;  but  a  man  took 
them  off  just  in  time  to  avoid  a  very  painful 
scene  to  them  as  well  as  to  me.  These 
things  went  on  in  the  street — I  refer  only  to 
the  street-teachings — as  these  women  were, 
with  one  other,  dishonorable  exceptions  to  the 
ladies  in  the  house. 

"  Once,  when  our  little  boy  Jeff  had  been 
most  violently  assailed  by  an  officer's  wife  in 
the  house,  he  came  up  with  his  face  covered 
with  tears  after  having  stood  silent  during  her 
abuse.  I  commended  Jeff's  gentlemanly  con 
duct  in  making  no  reply ;  cautioned  him 
against  ever  persecuting,  or  distressing  a 
woman,  or  a  fiend,  if  it  took  that  shape,  but 
made  application  the  next  day  for  permission 
to  go  away  to  Augusta  ;  was  refused,  and 
then  prepared  the  children  to  go  where  they 
would  not  see  such  people. 

"  Hourly  scenes  of  violence  were  going  on 
in  the  streets,  and  not  reported,  between  the 


716  JEFFERSON  DAVIS. 

blacks  and  whites,  and  I  felt  that  the  children's 

lives  were  not  safe.     During  General 's 

regime,  a  negro  sentinel  levelled  his  gun  at 
my  little  son  to  shoot  him,  for  calling  him 
'  uncle/  I  could  mourn  with  hope  if  my  chil 
dren  lived,  but  what  was  to  become  of  me  if  I 
was  deprived  of  them  ?  So  I  sent  them  off 
with  many  prayers  and  tears,  but  confident  of 
the  wisdom  of  the  decision.  On  the  ship  I 
understood  a  man  was  very  abusive  in  their 
hearing  of  Mr.  Davis,  when  my  faithful  ser 
vant  Robert  inquired  with  great  interest, 
'  Then  you  tell  me  I  am  your  equal  ?  You 
put  me  alongside  of  you  in  everything?  '  The 
man  said,  '  Certainly.'  '  Then/  said  Robert, 
'  take  this  from  your  equal/  and  knocked  him 
down.  The  captain  was  appealed  to,  and 
upon  a  hearing  of  the  case,  justified  Robert, 
and  required  an  apology  of  the  levelled  level 
ler. 

" .  .  .  As  soon  as  the  dear  children 
were  gone,  I  hoped  with  my  little  weak  baby 
(you  see  I  am  very  honest  with  you)  to  make 
my  escape  out  of  the  country  to  them ;  but 
when,  upon  coming  to  Augusta — which  Gen 
eral  Steadman  gave  me  leave  to  do  imme 
diately  upon  his  accession  to  command, 
through  the  very  kind  intercession  of  General 
Brannen,  who  succeeded  General  Birge — I 
was  informed  by  a  gentleman,  who  said  he 


ACCOUNT  OF   JOURNEY  TO  SAVANNAH.     717 

had  been  told  so  authoritatively,  that  if  I  ever 
quitted  the  country  for  any  possible  object,  I 
would — no  matter  what  befell  Mr.  Davis — 
never  be  allowed  to  return  ;  and  then  aban 
doned  the  intention. 

"  My  baby  has  grown  fat  and  rosy  as  the 
'  Glory  of  France/  a  rose  which  Mr.  Davis 
recollects  near  the  gate  of  our  house. 

"  Under  the  kind  treatment  I  have  received, 
the  fine  country  air  (five  miles  from  Augusta), 
and  the  privacy,  I  have  also  grown  much  bet 
ter  ;  can  sleep  and  eat,  and  begin  to  feel  alive 
again  with  the  frosty  air,  and  loving  words, 
and  letters  which  meet  me  here  as  in  Savannah. 

"  The  whole  Southern  country  teems  with 
homes  the  doors  of  which  open  wide  to  re 
ceive  me ;  and  the  people  are  so  loving,  talk 
with  such  streaming  eyes  and  broken  voices 
of  him  who  is  so  precious  to  them  and  to  me, 
that  I  cannot  realize  I  do  not  know  them  in 
timately.  Mr.  Davis  should  dismiss  all  fears 
for  me.  I  only  suffer  for  him.  I  do  not  meet 
a  young  man  who  fails  to  put  himself  at  my 
disposal  to  go  anywhere  for  me.  I  cannot 
pay  a  doctor's  bill,  or  buy  of  an  apothecary. 
'  All  things  are  added  unto  me.' 

"  If  I  have  written  too  long  a  letter,  my 
dear  sir,  it  is  because  I  have  not  collected  my 
facts,  but  sought  '  quid  scribam,  non  quern  ad 
modum.'  "  VARINA  DAVIS/' 


;i8  JEFFERSON  DAVIS. 

"FORTRESS  MONROE,  VA.,  October  2,  1865. 

" .  .  .  My  days  drag  heavily  on.  To 
what,  I  have  no  means  to  direct,  or  to  fore 
see.  Having  no  communication  with  the 
outer  world  except  with  you,  and  in  that  re 
stricted  by  the  judgment  of  the  Commanding 
Officer  as  to  what  should  be  sent.  The  ex 
ample  you  give  will  illustrate.  The  '  new 
overcoat'  I  have  not  received,  though,  prob 
ably,  when  the  statement  was  published  on 
which  you  relied  as  telling  at  least  one  fact, 
it  had  reached  this  post.  The  matter  being 
of  such  public  importance  as  to  have  been 
followed  in  its  progress  through  the  tailor's 
shop,  and  down  the  Bay,  the  journals  may 
give  you  the  future  history  before  it  is  known 
to  me. 

"  My  daily  walks  continue,  the  hour  depend 
ent  upon  General  Miles s  engagements*  as  I 
only  go  out  when  he  can  be  present. 

"  Deprived  of  the  opportunity  to  assemble 
with  the  members  of  the  church,  there  is  left 
to  me  the  spirit  communion  with  those  I  daily 
and  nightly  summon  to  meet  together  in  His 
name,  who  is  ever  present,  and  thus  I  have 
read  the  morning  service,  including  the  les 
sons  both  of  the  Dominical  and  Calendar  day. 

*  Sometimes  General  Miles  said  he  forgot,  sometimes  was  too 
busy,  and  often,  very  often,  the  walk  was  so  late  and  so  curtailed 
as  to  do  the  emaciated  sufferer  no  good,  but  rather  harm. 


ACCOUNT  OF  JOURNEY  TO  SAVANNAH.     719 

How  full  they  are  of  Providences.  Holy  in 
nocence  closes  the  mouths  of  fiercest  beasts 
and  triumphs  over  the  crafts  and  subtleties  of 
wicked  men ;  conscious  sinfulness  silences 
those  who  came  to  arraign  a  guilty  mortal 
and  entrap  the  righteous  judge  ;  repentance 
working  deliverance  to  an  oppressed  and  dis 
persed  people  ;  the  prayers  of  the  Church  af 
fecting  the  miraculous  preservation  of  one 
apostle  from  the  fate  which  had  a  short  time 
before  fallen  upon  another. 

"  I  could  not  write  daily  as  you  wish,  be 
cause  I  am  not  allowed  to  keep  stationery. 
When  it  is  specially  granted  it  has  to  be 
accounted  for,  the  whole  being  returned  writ 
ten  or  blank,  as  may  be.  .  .  .  With  you 
it  is  otherwise,  and  the  Attorney-General  will 
probably  indulge  us  by  forwarding  your  letters 
as  often  as  you  write.  His  past  courtesy 
warrants  such  expectation. 

"  William  B.  Reed,  of  Philadelphia,  recently 
tendered  to  me  his  professional  services  in  a 
very  kind  and  handsome  letter.  Thomas  J. 
Wharton,  C.  E.  Hooker,  and  Fulton  Ander 
son,  are  the  Mississippi  lawyers  who  offered 
their  services  and  were  recognized  as  counsel 
by  the  United  States  Secretary  of  State.  I 
requested  permission  to  acknowledge  their 
kindness  by  a  letter  ;  it  was  not  granted/' 


CHAPTER  LXXI. 

LETTERS   FROM   PRISON. 

Front  Mr.  Davis  to  Mrs.  Davis  * 

"FORTRESS  MONROE,  VA.,  October  n,  1865. 

" .  .  .  On  the  second  of  this  month  I 
was  removed  to  a  room  on  the  second  floor 
of  a  house  built  for  officers'  quarters.  The  dry 
air,  good  water,  and  a  fire  when  requisite,  have 
already  improved  my  physical  condition,  and 
with  increasing  .health  all  the  disturbances  due 
to  a  low  vitality,  it  is  to  be  expected,  will  dis 
appear  as  rapidly  as  has  been  usual  with  me, 
after  becoming  convalescent.  I  am  deeply 
indebted  to  my  attending  physician,  who  has 
been  to  me  much  more  than  that  term  usually 
conveys.  In  all  my  times  of  trouble,  new  evi 
dences  have  been  given  me  of  God's  merciful 
love. 

"*.  .  ,  'The  Herald  claims  to  give  me 
regular  information  concerning  my  family,  but 
if  it  did  contain  such  news,  as  I  only  get  oc 
casionally  a  copy,  the  promise  would  be  un 
fulfilled.  .  ,  .  I  have  lately  read  the 

*  The  intervening  letters  are  simply  records  of  suffering,  depriva 
tion,  and  fortitude  under  the  trial. 


LETTERS  FROM  PRISON.  721 

'  Suffering  Saviour/  by  the  Reverend  Dr. 
Krumacher,  and  was  deeply  impressed  with 
the  dignity,  the  sublime  patience  of  the  model 
of  Christianity,  as  contrasted  with  the  brutal 
vindictiveness  of  unregenerate  man  ;  and  with 
the  similitude  of  the  portrait  given  of  the  Jews 
to  the  fierce  prosecutions  which  pursued  the 
Revolutionists  after  the  restoration  of  the 
Stuarts.  One  is  led  to  ask,  Did  Sir  Hen 
ry  Vane  and  the  Duke  of  Argyle  imitate 
the  more  than  human  virtue  of  our  Saviour, 
or  was  their  conduct  the  inspiration  of  a  con 
science  void  of  offence  in  that  whereof  they 
were  accused  ? 

"  Misfortune  should  not  depress  us,  as  it  is 
only  crime  which  can  degrade.  Beyond  this 
world  there  is  a  sure  retreat  for  the  oppressed ; 
and  posterity  justifies  the  memory  of  those 
who  fall  unjustly.  To  our  own  purblind  view 
there  is  much  which  is  wrong,  but  to  deny 
what  is  right  is  to  question  the  wisdom  of 
Providence  or  the  existence  of  the  mediator 
ial  government.  .  .  . 

"  Every  intelligent  man  knows  that  my 
office  did  not  make  me  the  custodian  of  pub 
lic  money,  but  such  slanders  impose  on  and 
serve  to  inflame  the  ignorant — the  very  ignor 
ant — who  don't  know  how  public  money  was 
kept,  and  how  drawn  out  of  the  hands  of 
those  who  were  responsible  for  it.  My  chil- 
Vou  II.— 46 


722  JEFFEKSON  DAVIS. 

dren,  as  they  grow  up  and  prove  the  press 
ure  of  poverty,  must  be  taught  the  cause  of 
it ;  and  I  trust  they  will  feel  as  I  have,  when 
remembering  the  fact  that  my  father  was  im 
poverished  by  his  losses  in  the  war  of  the 
Revolution. 

"  Our  injuries  cease  to  be  grievous  in  pro 
portion  as  Christian  charity  enables  us  to  for 
give  those  who  trespass  against  us,  and  to 
pray  for  our  enemies.  I  rejoice  in  the  sweet 
sensitive  nature  of  our  little  Maggie,  but  I 
would  she  could  have  been  spared  the  knowl 
edge  which  inspired  her  '  grace/  and  the 
tears  which  followed  its  utterance.  As  none 
could  share  my  suffering,  and  as  those  who 
loved  me  were  powerless  to  diminish  it,  I 
greatly  preferred  that  they  should  not  know 
of  it.  Separated  from  my  friends  of  this 
world,  my  Heavenly  Father  has  drawn  near 
er  to  me.  His  goodness  and  my  unworthi- 
ness  are  more  sensibly  felt,  but  this  does  not 
press  me  back,  for  the  atoning  Mediator  is 
the  way,  and  His  hand  upholds  me.* 

"  I  hope  the  negroes'  fidelity  will  be  duly 

*  Little  Maggie  was  told  she  might  write  to  her  father  if  she 
said  nothing  objectionable  to  the  authorities.  She  thought  long, 
and  as  she  was  then  a  very  small  girl,  wrote  with  difficulty;  after 
days  of  labor  she  copied  the  23d  psalm  "The  Lord  is  my  Shepherd, 
.  .  "  and  with  tearful  eyes  brought  it  to  me,  signed  with  her 
name,  saying,  "This  letter  will  comfort  father,  and  will  not  make  the 
Yankees  mad,  will  it?''  The  letter  was  suppressed. 


LETTERS  FROM  PRISON.  723 

rewarded,  and  regret  that  we  are  not  in  a  situ 
ation  to  aid  and  protect  them.  There  is,  I 
observe,  a  controversy  which  I  regret  as  to 
allowing  negroes  to  testify  in  court.  From 
brother  Joe,  many  years  ago,  I  derived  the 
opinion  that  they  should  then  be  made  com 
petent  witnesses,  the  jury  judging  of  their 
credibility  ;  out  of  my  opinion  on  that  point, 
arose  my  difficulty  with  Mr.  C—  — ,*  and  any 
doubt  which  might  have  existed  in  my  mind 
was  removed  at  that  time.  The  change  of 
relation  diminishing  protection,  must  increase 
the  necessity.  Truth  only  is  consistent,  and 
they  must  be  acute  and  well  trained,  who  can 
so  combine  as  to  make  falsehood  appear  like 
truth  when  closely  examined. 

"  For,  say,  three  months  after  I  was  im 
prisoned  here,  two  hours  consecutive  sleep 
were  never  allowed  me  ;  more  recently  it  has 
not  been  so  bad,  but  it  is  still  only  broken 
sleep  which  I  get  at  night,  and  by  day  my 
attention  is  distracted  by  the  passing  of  the 
sentinels  who  are  kept  around  me  as  well  by 
day  as  by  night.  I  have  not  sunk  under  my 
trials,  am  better  than  a  fortnight  ago,  and 
trust  I  shall  be  sustained  under  any  affliction 
which  it  may  be  required  me  to  bear.  My 


*  An  overseer  who  gave  up  his  place  with  us,  on  account  of  the 
negroes  being  allowed  a  hearing  in  their  own  defence. 


724  JEFFERSON  DAVIS. 

sight  is  affected,  but  less  than  I  would  have 
supposed  if  it  had  been  foretold  that  a  light 
was  to  be  kept  where  I  was  to  sleep,  and 
that  I  was  at  short  intervals  to  be  aroused, 
and  the  expanded  pupil  thus  frequently 
subjected  to  the  glare  of  a  lamp.  .  .  . 
There  is  soon  to  be  a  change  of  the  garrison 
here.  I  will  be  sorry  to  part  from  many  of 
the  officers,  but  as  they  are  to  go  home  I 
should  rejoice  for  such  as  are  entitled  to  my 
gratitude.  Au  restey  as  I  cannot  control,  so 
I  may  hope  for  the  best. 

"  I  have  not  seen  Jordan's  *  critique,  and 
am  at  a  loss  to  know  where  that  game  was 
played  and  was  lost  by  my  interference.  If 
the  records  are  preserved  they  dispose  sum 
marily  of  his  romances  past,  passing,  and  to 
come.  The  events  were  of  a  public  character, 
and  it  is  not  possible  for  men  to  shift  their 
responsibility  to  another.  Everyone  who  has 
acted  must  have  made  mistakes,  and  the  best 
defence  he  can  make  to  the  public,  and  the 
only  one  beneficial  to  his  conscience,  if  he 
has  changed  his  theory,  is  to  confess  it ; 
let  him  whose  opinions  are  unchanged  con 
form  his  action  to  changed  circumstances,  and 


*  A  publication  made  by  General  Jordan,  in  Harper's  Monthly  of 
1865,  calculated  to  inflame  the  minds  of  the  North  against  Mr.  Davis, 
with  a  note  appended  by  General  Beauregard,  scarcely  less  hostile 
and  offensive. 


LETTERS  FROM  PRISON.  72$ 

both  classes  may  preserve  their  integrity  and 
live  and  work  in  harmony.  Our  life  is  spent 
in  choosing  between  evils,  and  he  would  be 
most  unwise  who  would  refuse  the  compara 
tive  good  thus  to  be  obtained.  History  is 
ever  repeating  itself,  but  the  influence  of 
Christianity  and  letters  has  softened  its  harsh 
er  features.  The  wail  of  destitute  women  and 
children  who  were  left  on  the  shore  of  Cork 
after  the  treaty  of  Limerick,  still  rings  in  the 
ears  of  all  who  love  right  and  hate  oppres 
sion  ;  but  bad  as  was  the  treatment  of  the 
Irish  then,  those  scenes  of  which  you  were 
reading  not  long  before  you  left  Richmond, 
enacted  by  Philip  of  Spain  in  the  Low  Coun 
tries,  were  worse.  The  unfortunate  have  al 
ways  been  deserted  and  betrayed  ;  but  did 
ever  man  have  less  to  complain  of  when  he 
had  lost  power  to  serve  ?  The  critics  are 
noisy — perhaps  they  hope  to  enhance  their 
wares  by  loud  crying.  The  multitudes  are  si 
lent,  why  should  they  speak  to  save  him  who 
hears  best  the  words  most  secretly  uttered  ? 
My  own  heart  tells  me  the  sympathy  exists, 
that  the  prayers  from  the  family  hearth  have 
not  been  hushed.  .  .  . 

" .  .  .  John  Mitchel  has  been  released. 
He  was  permitted  to  take  leave  of  me  through 
the  grates,  and  he  offered  to  write  to  you.  I 
have  not  seen  our  friend  Clay  for  some  time, 


726  JEFFERSON 

not  having  been  out  to  walk  lately  on  account 
of  a  series  of  boils,  or  a  carbuncle  with  a  succes 
sion  of  points,  which  rose  in  my  right  armpit, 
and  has  prevented  me  from  putting  on  my  coat 
since  the  day  I  last  wrote  to  you.  I  believe 
the  disease  is  now  at  an  end,  and  but  for  the 
rain  I  would  have  gone  out  to-day.  I  will 
comply  with  your  repeated  request  for  a  de 
scription  of  my  room,  and  hope  the  reality 
may  be  better  than  you  have  imagined  the 
case  to  be.  The  room  is  about  18x20  feet  ; 
is  situated  at  the  corner  in  the  second  story 
of  a  long  two-story  house  which  stands  under 
cover  of  the  main  parapet,  and  was  built  for 
officers*  quarters.  In  the  centre  of  the  end 
wall,  is  a  fireplace  ;  in  the  centre  of  each  of 
the  other  walls  is  a  door.  The  one  opposite 
to  the  fireplace  opens  into  the  room  occupied 
by  the  officer  of  the  guard  for  the  day,  the  one 
on  the  south  side  looks  out  on  a  gallery  which 
runs  along  the  building,  and,  beyond,  is  a 
limited  view  of  the  interior  of  the  fort ;  the 
one  on  the  north  side  connects  with  a  passage 
dividing  the  building,  The  doorway  into  the 
officer's  room  is  closed  by  an  iron  grating, 
with  locks  on  his  side  of  it,  and,  turning  on 
hinge,  affords  the  means  of  exit.  The  gallery 
door  is  closed  by  a  fixed  iron  grating  with 
glazed  sash  shutters  outside.  The  passage 
doorway  is  closed  by.iron  grating,  and  a  panel 


LETTERS  FROM  PRISON.  727 

shutter  into  which  are  inserted  two  panes  of 
glass.  Sentinels  are  no  longer  kept  in  the 
room  I  occupy.  One  sentinel  only  now  walks 
back  and  forth  along  the  gallery,  one  along 
the  passage,  and  one  in  the  officer's  room,  so 
as  to  give  each  of  the  three  a  view  through 
his  door  of  the  interior  of  the  room.  They 
cause  the  broken  sleep  concerning  which  you 
ask.  I  have  endeavored  to  overcome  the  dis 
traction  and  annoyance  this  constant  passing 
causes  in  the  day,  and  to  resist  its  disturbing 
effect  at  night ;  the  success  has  not,  however, 
been  commensurate  with  the  effort.  Former 
ly  the  circumstances  were  much  worse  ;  and, 
before  changes  were  made,  a  morbid  condi 
tion  had  been  produced  so  that  wakefulness 
is  continued  by  less  than  would  have  pro 
duced  it.  My  bed  stands  in  the  corner  of  the 
walls  of  the  gallery  and  officer's  room  ;  on  the 
opposite  corner  is  the  water-bucket,  basin  and 
pitcher,  and  a  folding  screen  which  enables 
me  to  wash  unobserved.  On  the  gallery  side 
of  the  chimney  is  a  recess  with  a  shelf  for 
books,  and  pegs  to  hang  up  clothes.  On  the 
opposite  side  of  the  chimney,  a  closet.  The 
bed  is  the  common  form  of  iron  frame,  two 
mattresses,  sheets,  blankets,  and  a  cover  with 
pillows  and  mosquito  bar.  Breakfast  is  sent 
to  me  about  nine  ;  dinner  about  four  ;  and  tea 
would  be  sent  if  I  desired  it.  The  food  is 


72$  JEFFERSON  DAVIS. 

suited  to  my  condition,  and  I  have  had  no  oc 
casion  to  ask  for  change  or  addition.  The 
chair,  though  coarse,  is  so  much  better  than 
the  one  I  had  before  it,  as  to  be  comparative 
ly  satisfactory  ;  a  stand,  such  as  is  commonly 
used  in  hospital  wards,  serves  me  as  a  table, 
and  for  the  present  there  is  a  stool  which  an 
swers  for  a  washstand.  My  clothes  are  not 
with  me,  except  those  in  immediate  use.  My 
valise  was  taken  charge  of  by  General  Miles. 
I  have  not  seen  it  since.  I  much  regret  that 
you  did  not  keep  the  things  which  had  a  value 
from  association,  instead  of  leaving  them  in 
the  valise. 

"FORTRESS  MONROE,  VA.,  November  3,1865. 

"  I  am  sustained  by  a  Power  I  know  not 
of.  The  Protector  of  the  fatherless  and  the 
widow,  I  am  permitted  to  hope,  hears  your 
prayer.  Your  trust  that  the  Son  of  the 
righteous  will  not  be  forsaken  has  also  been 
to  me  the  suggestion  of  comfort.  When 
Franklin  was  brought  before  the  privy  council 
of  George  III.,  and  a  time-serving  courtier 
heaped  the  grossest  indignities  upon  him,  he 
bore  them  with  composure,  and  afterward 
attributed  his  ability  to  do  so  to  the  conscious 
ness  of  innocence  in  the  acts  for  which  he  was 
reviled.  I  have  no  means  of  com- 


LETTERS  FROM  PRISON.  739 

municating  with  any  one  but  you,  and,  as  I 
understand  the  orders,  all  communications  to 
you  must  pass  through  Washington,  and  be 
viseed. 

".  .  .  What,  under  Providence,  may  be 
in  store  for  us  I  have  no  ability  to  foresee. 
I  have  tried  to  do  my  duty  to  my  fellow-men, 
and  while  my  penitent  prayers  are  offered  to 
our  Heavenly  Father  for  forgiveness  of  the 
sins  committed  against  Him,  I  have  the  sus 
taining  belief  that  He  is  full  of  mercy  ;  and, 
knowing  my  inmost  heart,  will  acquit  me 
where  man,  blind  man  seeks  to  condemn. 
From  our  mediating  Saviour  I  humbly  trust 
to  receive  support,  and,  whatever  may  befall 
me  in  this  world,  to  have  justice  dictated  by 
Divine  Wisdom  and  tempered  with  Divine 
mercy  in  the  next. 

"  Kiss  dear  little  Winnie  for  me,  and,  as 
she  grows,  teach  her  how  her  father  loved 
her  when  she  was  too  young  to  remember. 
Try  to  make  my  thanks  to  Mr.  Schley  and 
the  ladies  equal  to  my  gratitude.  .  .  . 
My  faith  tells  me  that  our  merciful  Father 
will  give  us  whatever  it  is  expedient  we 
should  have. 

"FORTRESS  MONROE,  November  21,  1865. 

"  To  make  the  best  of  the  existing  condition 
is  alike  required  by  patriotism  and  practical 


730  JEFFERSON  DA  vis. 

sense.  The  negro  is  unquestionably  to  be  at 
last  the  victim ;  because,  when  brought  into 
conflict,  the  inferior  race  must  be  overborne  ; 
but  it  is  possible  to  defer  the  conflict  and  to 
preserve  a  part  of  the  kind  relations  hereto 
fore  existing  between  the  races,  when  a  life 
long  common  interest  united  them.  The 
object  is  worthy  all  the  effort.  To  be  success 
ful,  the  policy  must  be  as  far  removed  from 
the  conservatism  that  rejects  everything  new, 
as  from  the  idealism  which  would  retain 
nothing  which  is  old.  If  catch-words  de 
termine  who  shall  mould  the  institutions  and 
administer  the  affairs  of  the  Southern  States 
— the  deluge.  Though  neither  a  spectator 
nor  an  actor,  a  life  spent  more  in  the  service 
of  my  country  than  in  that  of  my  family,  leaves 
me  now  unable  to  disengage  myself  from  the 
consideration  of  the  public  interests.  .  .  . 
The  best  source  of  patience  is  the  assurance 
that  the  world  is  governed  by  infinite  wisdom, 
and  that  He  who  rules  only  permits  injustice 
for  some  counterbalancing  good  of  which  the 
sufferer  cannot  judge. 

"  I  yielded  to  your  renewed  request,  and 
wrote  minute  description  of  my  room,  its 
furniture,  the  beats  of  the  sentinels,  etc.;  that 
part  of  my  letter  was  objected  to  *  and  was 

*  By  General  Miles. 


LETTERS  FROM  PRISON.  73t 

rewritten  accordingly.  Let  me  renew  the 
caution  against  believing  the  statements  of 
correspondents  in  regard  to  me.  To  calum 
niate  a  state  prisoner  and  thus  either  grat 
ify  or  excite  hatred  against  him,  is  an  old 
device,  and  never  was  a  fairer  opportunity 
presented  to  do  so  without  the  fear  of  contra 
diction  than  is  offered  in  my  case. 

"  November  22d.  It  is  six  months  since  we 
parted,  and  I  know  no  more  of  the  purpose  in 
regard  to  me  than  I  did  then.  Measured  by 
painful  anxiety  for  you  and  your  helpless 
charge,  these  months  are  to  me  many,  many 
years.  From  the  anguish  and  doubly  painful 
trial,  because  I  could  learn  nothing  of  you,  I 
have  extracted  the  consolation  of  increased 
pride  and  fully  sustained  confidence.  .  .  . 
I  do  take  care  of  my  health  ;  all  the  motives 
you  enumerate  are  ever  before  me ;  and 
others,  of  which  you  are  less  apt  to  think, 
furnish  me  the  strongest  inducements  to  de 
sire  life  and  strength  to  vindicate  my  conduct, 
at  least  to  posterity,  and  for  my  family.  Be 
hopeful — trust  in  "  the  faithful  Promiser." 
Let  us  with  faith  and  charity  look  out  for 
a  better  morrow.  .  .  .  Shut  out  from 
the  ever-changing  world,  I  live  in  the  past 
with  a  vividness  only  thus  to  be  accounted 
for. 


732  JEFFZRSON  DA  VI$. 

"FORTRESS  MONROE,  VA.,  December  7,  1865. 

"  I  am  deeply  impressed  by  the  kindness 
of  the  Bishop,  and  that  of  the  priests  who 
have  so  nobly  shown  their  readiness  to  do 
their  Master's  work  in  relieving  the  afflicted 
and  protecting  the  fatherless.  They  have  sent 
thus  the  sweetest  solace  to  one  in  the  condi 
tion  of  Him,  who  went  down  from  Jerusalem 
to  Jericho.  I  feel  with  you,  that  God  has 
been  very  good  to  us. 

"  Reagan  I  knew  to  be  a  true-hearted, 
consistent  man,  and  I  never  gave  the  least 
heed  to  the  newspaper  reports  which  attri 
buted  to  him  participation  in  censorious  re 
marks  against  me  during*  his  confinement  at 

o  o 

Fort  Warren.  Some  men  I  had  to  trust  be 
cause  of  the  confidence  others  had  in  them. 
When  disaster  fell  upon  me  their  desertion 
did  not  surprise  me. 

"  I  recently  saw  that  Davis  had  been  ar 
rested  ;  also,  that  a  general  petition  for  his  re 
lease  has  been  gotten  up  in  North  Carolina, 
which  it  was  expected  would  be  effectual. 
The  proverb  in  relation  to  the  desire  of  misery 
for  companionship  is  not  realized  by  me  in 
this  matter  of  imprisonment.  I  would  that, 
like  one  of  old,  it  were  for  me  to  say,  I  alone 
am  left.  To  me — as  it  must  to  you — it  is 
sometimes  a  puzzle  to  find  the  rule  of  discrim 
ination.  In  such  a  situation  Hume's  balance 


LETTERS  FROM  PRISON.  733 

is  peculiarly  to  be  sought.  ...  As  nat 
ural  rights  belong  only  to  those  who  can 
maintain  them,  so  natural  affections  and  ex 
citements  are  only  safe  to  those  who  are  not 
unnaturally  restrained. 

"  I  have  been  reading '  Thoughts  on  Person 
al  Religion/  by  Dr.  Goulburn.  His  instruc 
tions  as  to  prayer  have  impressed  me  particu 
larly.  How  like  is  the  experience  of  men.  It 
is  no  small  encouragement  to  a  sinner  striv 
ing  for  a  better  state,  to  find  that  those  who 
have,  at  least  in  the  world's  estimation,  won 
the  crown  of  glory,  had  passed  through  such 
tribulation  as  he  is  beset  with.  Did  it  never 
occur  to  you  how  much  evil  is  done  by  the 
use  of  a  text  startling  in  its  terms,  and  so 
iterated  and  reiterated  that  any  explanation  of 
its  meaning  by  reference  to  other  texts  bear 
ing  on  the  same  subject  is  lost  ?  It  occurred 
to  me,  after  last  writing  to  you,  that  something 
of  that  kind  might  have  happened  to  you  in 
regard  to  forgiveness  ;  and  I  regretted  not 
having  pointed  out  the  illustration  of  his 
meaning  which  our  Saviour  gave  in  the  par 
able  of  the  King  who  took  an  account  of  his 
servants.  When  we  shall  pass  into  the  fu 
ture  state  of  pure  intelligence,  so  as  to  judge 
not  by  external  signs  but  by  the  inner  motives, 
how  different  men  will  appear  to  each  other 
from  the  estimates  of  their  carnal  life  !  May 


734  JEFFERSON  DAVIS. 

it  not  be  that  we  shall  then  find  our  most 
earnest  efforts  at  self-examination  brought  us 
but  to  a  poor  knowledge  of  ourselves  ? 

"  Though  my  prison  life  does  not  give  me 
the  quiet  of  solitude,  its  isolation  as  to  inter 
course  affords  abundant  opportunity  for  turn 
ing  the  thoughts  inward  ;  and,  if  my  self-love, 
not  to  say  sense  of  justice,  would  have  re 
sisted  the  reckless  abuse  of  my  enemies,  I 
am.  humbled  by  your  unmerited  praise.  It 
teaches  me  what  I  ought  to  be,  and  lifts  my 
eyes  to  Him  whose  all-sufficient  grace  alone 
can  raise  me  to  your  ideal  standard.  With 
the  communion  of  the  Church,  I  am  not  alone, 
nor  without  remembrance  that  the  burthen  is 
not  permitted  to  exceed  the  strength.  I  live 
and  hope. 

"  The  '  heavy  erasures  '  concerning  which 
you  inquire,  assuming  that  they  were  made 
by  me,  as  the  Attorney-General  had  politely 
informed  you  that  he  did  not  do  it,  were  not 
by  my  choice.  To  your  repeated  requests  to 
be  informed  as  to  my  room,  my  clothes,  and 
the  change  of  garrison  as  affecting  me,  I  re 
plied  in  the  letter  to  which  you  refer.  Two 
leaves  containing  the  answers  to  the  two  first 
questions  were  returned  to  me  as  matter 
which  would  not  be  forwarded,  and  they  were 
rewritten  omitting  the  answers  described. 
Subsequently  my  attention  was  called  to  a 


LETTERS  FROM  PRISON.  735 

sentence  on  another  page,  responding  to  your 
inquiry  about  the  new  garrison,  and  stating  a 
consequent  alteration  in  the  matter  of  senti 
nels,  which  I  was  required  to  obliterate.  I 
drew  the  pen  through  it  and  sent  it  back. 
General  Miles  afterward  told  me  that  it  had 
still  been  legible  as  I  left  it,  and  added  some 
thing  not  distinctly  heard  beyond  the  point 
of  main  interest,  that  the  letter  had  been  sent. 

"  My  incarceration  followed  four  years  of 
terrible  war.  The  North  put  forth  its  whole 
capacity  on  land  and  sea,  by  ball  and  bayo 
net,  striving  to  retain  the  South  in  one  Gov 
ernment  with  it ;  the  South  strained  every 
nerve  to  maintain  a  separate  existence.  By 
the  newspaper,  to-day,  I  see  that  the  North, 
as  represented  in  Congress,  stands  quite 
united  to  keep  the  South  out  of  the  legisla 
tive  halls  of  the  Union,  and  the  South,  wist 
fully  looking  at  the  closed  entrance,  stands 
outside — and  then  she  is  told  she  has  all  the 
time  been  inside.  .  .  . 

"The  ways  of  Him  who  doeth  all  things 
well  are  inscrutable  to  man.  Let  us  learn  to 
say,  'not  mine  but  Thy  will  be  done/  The 
bitterness  which  caused  me  to  be  so  persist 
ently  slandered,  has  created  a  sentiment 
which  will  probably  find  vent  in  Congressional 
speeches,  and  test  all  your  Christian  fortitude. 
Remember  that  the  end  is  not  yet.  A  fair 


736  JEFFERSON  DAVIS. 

inquiry  will  show  how  '  false  witnesses  have 
risen  up  against  me  and  laid  to  my  charge 
things  that  I  knew  not  of.'  If  you  will  recall 
the  very  early  period  when  I  was  warned  by 
letter  that  an  emissary  had  been  sent  to 
Montgomery  to  assassinate  me,  you  will  see 
misconception  of  my  position  and  a  cruel  de 
sire  for  my  destruction  are  not  new-born. 
When  the  truth  is  revealed,  the  more  honor 
able  and  manly  of  my  enemies  will  recoil  from 
further  association  with  the  others.  Truth 
and  the  common  sense  of  justice  will  gener 
ally  protect  the  innocent,  where  the  trial  is 
according  to  the  due  course  of  law,  and  is 
sure  to  vindicate  the  memory  of  a  victim. 
There  is  an  unseen  hand  which  up 
holds  me,  save  when  my  thoughts  are  concen 
trated  on  the  objects  of  my  dearest  love  and 
greatest  solicitude.  Perhaps  He  will  give  me 
that  strength  hereafter.  In  the  many  friends 
He  has  raised  up  for  you,  there  is  the  promise 
of  that  peace  to  come.  .  .  . 

"  December  8th.  Another  day  has  suc 
ceeded  the  night.  The  sun  has  risen  bright, 
and  the  cold  bracing  air  invites  animal  life  to 
activity.  To  me  there  is  the  same  monoton 
ous  round  of  prisoner's  life  in  military  confine 
ment,  such  as  is  not  known  to  the  usages  of 
war  in  cases  like  mine.  I  am,  however,  thank 
ful  for  the  power  to  bear,  and  trustful  that  the 


LETTERS  FROM  PRISON.  737 

power  will  be  given  me  to  bear  in  patience. 
In  a  former  letter  I  mentioned  to  you  that  the 
trunk  you  had  sent  with  clothes  had  arrived. 
I  notice  that  the  shirts  are  new,  and  it  excites 
the  inquiry  whether  you  have  been  robbed  of 
those  which  you  took  with  your  baggage  when 
you  left  me  in  Richmond.*    ...     If  the  field 
where  the  events  of  Jordan's  intrigue  occurred 
was   near    to  Drury's  Bluff,   Colonel  Melton 
knows  how  my  designs  were  frustrated,  and 
how  little  the  promise  accorded  with  the  ac 
tion  on  the  unwise  plan  substituted  for  mine. 
A  letter  to  Mr.  Seddon  put  it  beyond  the  power 
of  anyone  to  falsify  that  affair.      It  was  sent  by 
General  Beauregard  the  day  before  he  under 
took  the  execution  of  his  own  plan,  to  account 
for  the  change  he  made,  and  from  which,  when 
it  failed,  he  endeavored  to  escape  by  blaming 
Whiting  and  Ransom.     .     .     .     . 

After  faithful  self-examination  it  is  permitted 
to  me  to  say,  I  have  not  done  to  others  as 
they  do  unto  me.  There  is  no  occasion,  now, 
to  make  Frankensteins.  Like  ready-made 
clothing,  they  wait  in  abundance  for  custom 
ers.  When  Roberts  gr.ew  angry  with  Byron, 
you  know  he  charged  him  with  being  miserable 
because  of  a  soul  of  which  he  could  not  get 
rid.  The  sentinel  has  stamped  with  such 

*  These  were  demanded  from  my  trunk  and  given  for  his  use  to 
the  messenger  sent  for  them  from  the  fort, 
VOL.  II.—  47 


738  JEFFERSON  DAVIS. 

noise,  back  and  forth,  in  front  of  me,  that,  un 
til  another  and  more  quiet  walker  comes  on, 
and  I  recover  from  the  effect  produced  by  the 
attempt  to  write  under  such  difficulty,  I  will 
desist. 

"  Somebody  writing1  from  Augusta  to  the 
Boston  Advertiser,  makes  an  extraordinary 
statement  about  a  letter  said  to  have  been 
written  to  someone  in  Columbus,  by  Mr.  A. 
H.  Stephens,  immediately  after  the  Hampton 
Roads  conference — containing  the  assertion 

•  <^> 

that  terms  not  humiliating  to  the  South  could 

o 

be  obtained,  but  that  I  and  my  principal  ad 
visers  did  not  want  peace.  Of  course  Mr.  S. 
could  not  have  said  anything  of  the  sort,  as 
he  had  been  twice  employed  to  seek  peace, 
and,  on  the  last  occasion,  made  a  report,  writ 
ten  and  oral,  showing  that  no  negotiation 
would  be  entertained.  He  was  pressed  to  en 
large  the  written  report  by  the  addition  of  such 
conclusions  and  impressions  as  the  confidential 
nature  of  a  part  of  the  conference  would  per 
mit,  but  though  the  two  other  commissioners 
appeared  willing  to  do  so,  Mr.  S.  strongly 
objected,  arguing  that'  the  bare  recital  of  facts 
was  the  best  presentation  of  the  case  to  the 
public  mind.  *  Now,  as  it  would  have  been 
dishonest  to  conceal  from  me  such  an  oppor 
tunity  as  is  described,  and  treacherous  to  the 
people  to  have  given  such  an  account  as  it 


LETTERS  FROM  PRISON.  739 

was  thought  would  most  certainly  lead  them 
to  the  opposite  conclusion,  I  take  it  that  some 
one  is  slandering  Mr.  Stephens,  and  so  pub 
licly  that  even  a  philosopher  might  be  moved 
to  correct  it.  ...  There  has  been  cer 
tainly  much  zeal  displayed  in  the  planting 
and  cultivating  of  prejudice  against  me,  but 
many  of  the  stories  are  so  absurd  that  it  re 
quired  a  morbid  state  of  opinion  to  receive 
them. 

"  '  Dobbin  '  *  always  was  sterling  ;  his  father 
and  his  mother  were  pure  gold.  Tell  him  how 
gratefully  I  recognize  his  care  for  my  children. 
...  «...  .  On  the  whole,  it  must  be  more  com 
fortable  to  be  the  deceived  than  the  deceiver. 
Sometimes  I  feel  that  there  is  a  real  compli 
ment  in  the  trust  displayed  by  some  of  my 
slanderers,  to  whom  it  must  occur  that,  with  a 
single  breath,  I  could  topple  over  the  misera 
ble  fabric.  .  .  . 

"In  the  time  when  nations  were  ruled  by 
arbitrary  power,  the  Catholic  priests  stood 
between  the  despots  and  their  victims,  sub 
limely  defying  the  rage  of  one,  and  divinely 
bending  to  raise  the  other.  From  time  to 
time  the  heroic  spirit  of  that  ancient  line 
has  been  called  forth,  and  in  plague,  pesti 
lence,  and  famine,  in  the  wilderness  and  on 

*  William  Preston  Johnston. 


740  JEFFERSON  DAVIS. 

fields  of  blood,  in  the  prison,  on  the  scaf 
fold,  and  among  the  deserted  mourners,  no 
bly  have  they  maintained  the  glory  of  their 
order.  .  .  . 

(i  I  would  write  more  freely  if  I  knew  that 
the  Attorney -General  only  inspected  my  let 
ters ;  but,  as  I  send  them  open  and  don't 
know  how  they  are  forwarded,  and  do  know 
that  objections  have  been  made  here  to  the 
contents  of  a  letter  enclosed  to  the  Attorney- 
General,  I  conclude  that  they  are  read  be 
fore  they  reach  him,  and  may  be  stopped  on 
the  way." 


CHAPTER   LXXII. 

LETTERS   FROM   FORTRESS    MONROE. 

From  Mr.  Davis  to  Mrs.  Davis. 

"  FORTRESS  MONROE,  VA.,  January  16,  1866. 

"  I  had  feared  that  our  negroes  would  be 
disturbed  by  the  introduction  of  others  among 
them,  but  could  not  have  imagined  that  they 
would  be  driven  away  from  their  home  by 
those  pretending  to  be  their  especial  advo 
cates.  What  a  beast  he  must  have  been  who 
turned  old  Uncle  Bob  out  of  his  house,  to 
find  where  he  could  a  shelter  for  the  infirm 
ities  of  more  than  a  hundred  winters.  That 
claim  was  manifest.  Of  the  truth,  the  fidel 
ity,  the  piety  which  had  so  long  secured  him 
the  respect  of  all  who  knew  him,  a  stranger 
might  plead  ignorance.  .  .  -'. 

"  1 7th.  I  have  been  suffering  from  neural 
gia  in  the  head,  and  the  usual  effect  upon  the 
eyes  causes  me  to  write  at  intervals.  Indeed, 
considering  the  circumstances,  it  is  rather  to 
be  wondered  at  that  I  am  not  worse.  Once  a 
day  it  is  still  permitted  to  me  to  walk  in  the 
open  air ;  and,  though  the  time  is  brief,  the 
result  is  beneficial. 


742  JEFFERSON  DA  VIS. 

"  1 8th.  The  gifts  with  which  men  are 
divinely  endowed  are  various,  and  the  re 
quirements  of  the  Lord  are  never  beyond  the 
range  of  possibility  ;  for  He  knows  our  in 
firmities  and  judges  of  our  motives.  These 
man  cannot  know,  and  is  therefore  forbidden 
to  judge.  We  hope  and  pray  for  God's  for 
giveness  on  the  ground  of  true  repentance, 
and  as  we  cannot  tell,  in  the  case  of  those  who 
trespass  against  us,  whether  the  repentance 
is  true  or  feigned,  we  are  bound  to  accept  the 
seeming.  This  is  possible,  but  is  not  easy  for 
virtue  far  short  of  the  God-like  or  saintly  ex 
amples  of  the  Redeemer,  the  first  Christian 
Martyr.  .  .  ." 

From  Mr.  Davis  to  Mrs.  Davis. 

"FORTRESS  MONROE,  VA.,  January  24,  1866. 

"  Judge  Campbell,  I  have  been  told,  wrote  a 
full  account  of  the  interview  with  Mr.  Lincoln 
and  Mr.  Seward,  and  that  it  has  been  pub 
lished  in  the  Northern  papers.  Mr.  Hunter 
promised  me  to  write  such  a  statement. 
The  stories  told  of  Mr.  Stephens  are  improb 
able,  because  the  meanest  capacity  must  per 
ceive  that  my  powers  and  duties  rested  on  the 
organization  made  by  the  Southern  States,  and 
that  it  would  have  been  treasonable  usurpa 
tion  to  attempt  to  destroy  the  organization  by 
the  exercise  of  functions  given  to  maintain  it. 


LETTERS  FROM  FORTRESS  MONROE.      743 

When  the  Continental  Congress  sent  Com 
missioners  to  meet  Lord  Howe,  who  had  an 
nounced  himself  as  empowered  to  treat  for 
the  adjustment  of  the  controversy  between 
the  States  and  Great  Britain,  the  Commis 
sioners,  on  learning  that  the  basis  must  be  a 
return  to  allegiance,  informed  his  Lordship 
that  the  Colonies  having  declared  their  inde 
pendence,  it  was  not  competent  for  the  Con 
gress  to  return  them  to  a  state  of  depend 
ence.  In  both  cases,  there  was  an  obvious 
mode,  but  it  was  adopted  in  neither,  viz.,  to 
suspend  hostilities  and  submit  propositions  to 
be  laid  before  the  States.  Judge  Campbell 
made  an  inquiry  which  opened,  and  received 
an  answer  which  closed,  that  view.  /  sup 
pose  it  is  narrated  in  his  statement*  Ex 
cluded  from  an  opportunity  to  reply,  slan 
ders  have  worked  without  check,  and  have 
no  doubt  deceived  many.  Again,  any  dolt 
whose  blunders  necessitated  frequent  convic 
tion,  and  whose  vanity  sought  for  someone 
on  whom  to  lay  the  responsibility  of  his  fail 
ures,  could  readily,  and  if  mean  enough  would 
now,  ascribe  them  to  me.  Things  done 
against  my  known  views,  and  of  which  expla 
nations  were  written  to  me  when  success 

was   expected   to  result  from  the   change  of 

• . 

*  It  was  not,  but  much  was  narrated  which  inflamed  the  public 
against  the  hapless  prisoner. 


744  JEFFERSOX  DA  KAS1. 

plan,  have  lately  been  attributed  to  my  or 
ders.  Beauregard,  Hood,  Hardee,  and 
Cobb  know  of  a  case  in  point,  memorable  by 
its  consequences.  Generals  Lee  and  Bragg 
could  give  the  history  of  the  two  largest  arm 
ies.  ...  I  never  sought  to  make  up  my 
own  record,  intent  on  the  discharge  of  my 
duties  in  the  various  public  positions  I  have 
held.  If  the  question  had  occurred  to  me, 
how  will  this  be  told  hereafter  ?  I  would  have 
preferred  to  leave  that  task  to  others.  Nor 
is  the  hazard  great,  for  the  dependence  of  the 
parts  of  a  whole  will  generally  correct  the 
perversions  of  recital  by  interested  narrators. 

"  That  power  to  compare  and  sift  testimony 
is  as  necessary  to  a  historian  as  to  an  at 
torney,  and  I  hope  the  faculty  will  be  put  in 
exercise  proportionate  to  the  field  our  time 
has  offered.  .  .  . 

"  The  New  York  paper  containing  an  ac 
count  of  the  interview  between  the  South 
Carolina  committee  and  President  Johnson, 
was  handed  to  me  soon  after  its  publication. 
I  did  not  credit  the  statement,  because  I  was 
sure  you  had  not  in  such  correspondence 
given  expression  to  your  personal  feelings.* 

*  Mr.  Davis  refers  to  a  misstatement  of  President  Johnson,  that  I 
had  written  him  offensive  letters,  when  I  had  never  written  him  but 
one,  and  that  was  an  application  to  be  allowed  to  go  to  my  husband, 
and  this  was  couched  in  respectful  terms  and  handed  to  him  by 
Francis  P.  Blair,  who  would  not  have  done  anything  to  injure  me 


LETTERS  FROM  FORTRESS  MONROE.     74$ 

To  all  the  trials,  mental  and  physical,  to 
which  I  am  subjected  I  will  oppose  all  the 
moral  power  I  possess,  that  my  life  may  be 
prolonged  as  far  as  such  drains  will  permit, 
and  my  power  to  meet  any  future  ordeal  be 
as  great  as  possible  to  me. 

"  Mr.  Clay,  like  myself,  no  doubt,  suffers 
from  food  unsuited  to  him,  and  to  anyone  in 
close  confinement,  even  were  it  good,  I  think 
it  would  soon  become  so.  .  .  ;  J  ; 

"  Bowed  down  by  anxiety  for  my  family,  suf 
fering  from  neuralgia  and  dyspepsia,  covered 
by  the  dusky  cloud  of  falsehood  and  injustice, 
I  am  supported  by  the  conscious  rectitude  of 
my  course,  and  humbly  acknowledging  my 
many  and  grievous  sins  against  God,  can  con 
fidently  look  to  His  righteous  judgment  for 
vindication  in  the  matters  whereof  I  am  ac 
cused  by  man.  .  .  ." 

From  Mr.  Davis  to  Mrs.  Davis. 

"FORTRESS  MONROE,  January  28,  1866. 

"  Did  you  ever  hear  that  Colonel  MacCree 
refused  to  dine  with  the  Duke  of  Welling 
ton  ?  He,  of  course,  gave  no  reason  on  that 
occasion,  but  it  was  well  understood  to  be 


or  mine.  President  Johnson  afterward  acknowledged  to  the  Hon 
orable  Reverdy  Johnson,  that  he  had  made  a  misstatement  in  an 
swer  to  my  application  for  a  copy  of  the  putative  letter. 


746  JEFFERSON  DAVIS. 

on  account  of  the  treatment  received  by  Na 
poleon  after  his  surrender. 

"  It  is  not  long  since  a  newspaper  para- 
graphist  would  have  been  rebuked  by  public 
opinion  if  he  had  attempted,  by  epithets  and 
one-sided  statements,  to  inflame  the  mind  of 
his  readers  against  a  prisoner  waiting  a  trial  ; 
but  that  would  have  been  a  small  offence  com 
pared  with  that  of  a  law-maker  who  would  seek 
to  produce  the  effect,  and  then,  by  retrospec 
tive  legislation,  to  bring  it  to  bear  upon  an  an 
ticipated  trial  by  endowing  such  prejudiced 
minds  with  the  power  to  judge.  The  minor 
objections  growing  out  of  the  official  char 
acter  of  the  person,  which,  if  alone,  would 
be  great,  are  hidden  by  the  magnitude  of  the 
offence  of  uttering  such*  libellous  assertion 
under  the  circumstances  which  he  knew  sur 
rounded  me.  That  his  authority  was  not 
called  for,  that  he  was  not  scoffed  by  the  mul 
titude  as  the  home-bred  sentiment  of  fair 
play  demanded,  shows  you  how  deep-seated 
the  disease  has  become. 

"  The  same  conclusion  as  to  your  course  is 
reached  by  every  line  of  thought.  Trying 
as  it  may  be,  you  will  have  to  make  the  ef 
fort  to  leave  me,  for  the  present,  out  of  all 
your  plans  ;  and  may  our  Heavenly  Father 
strengthen  your  heart  for  the  difficult  task  of 
filling  the  place  of  both  parents  to  our  chil- 


LET'IERS  FROM  FORTRESS  MONROE.     747 

dren.  Tarry  thou  the  Lord's  pleasure,  and 
let  us  always  remember  that  all  He  does  is 
right,  and  that  hereafter  it  will  be  given  to 
us  to  comprehend  His  ways  and  say  all  was 
well.  .  !<••>  J*' 

"29th.  l/-iv.j>:^  Oh,  that  the  law-makers 
had  facts  instead  of  suggestions  on  which  to 
base  their  action  in  regard  to  the  Southern 
States,  j  '  rr;'-.  Fear  not  what  man  can 
do,  it  is  God  disposes.  Now  I  am  shut 
up  and  slander  runs  riot  to  destroy  my  fair 
repute,  but  any  investigation  must  redeem 
my  character  and  leave  it  for  an  inheritance 
to  my  children,  which  in  after-times  they 
will  not  be  the  worse  for  possessing.  The 
treatment  I  have  received  will  be  compared 
with  my  treatment  of  others,  and  it  will  be  the 
reverse  of  the  picture  my  enemies  have  drawn. 
Conscious  rectitude  is  a  great  support  to  the 
sufferer,  whatever  may  be  the  form  or  the 
end  of  the  afflictions." 

"  FORTRESS  MONROE,  VA.,  February  3,  1866. 

"  .  v  v  Men  turn  to  the  judgment  of  pos 
terity  for  the  reversal  of  the  decrees  of  their 
contemporaries,  appealing  with  the  self-sus 
taining  hope  of  conscious  rectitude,  from 
'  Philip  drunk  to  Philip  sober.'  .  .  u^> 

"The  newspapers  will  have  informed  you 
of  the  petition  in  my  behalf  by  seven  thousand 


748  JEFFERSON  DAVIS. 

ladies  of  Richmond  and  vicinity.  It  was  not 
ineffectual,  it  refreshed  my  burdened  heart  as 
the  shower  revives  a  parched  field. 

"  I  have  just  heard  that  Mr.  Cass  is  dying, 
and  regret  it  as  well  on  account  of  my  kind 
feeling  for  him  and  the  respect  which  his  ami 
able  character  commanded,  as  because  he  was 
one  of  those  on  whom  I  felt  I  could  rely  to 
vindicate  my  character  from  some  of  the  ac 
cusations  made  against  me.  After  Mr.  Crit- 
tenden,  there  was  no  one  to  whom  I  talked  so 
much  and  so  freely  concerning  the  sectional 
troubles  in  1 860-61.  With  Mr.  Crittenden  I 
daily  conferred  when  we  served  on  the  com 
promise  committee  in  that  winter,  the  record 
of  which  shows  who  it  was  who  opposed 
every  effort  at  accommodation. 

"  Like  you,  I  feel  sorry  for  the  negroes. 
What  has  been  done  would  gradually  and 
measurably  be  corrected  by  the  operation 
of  the  ordinary  laws  governing  the  relation 
of  labor  to  capital,  if  they  were  let  alone. 
But  interference  by  those  who  have  a  the 
ory  to  maintain  by  the  manufacture  of  facts, 
must  result  in  evil,  evil  only  and  continu 
ally.  .  .  . 

"  At  every  renewal  of  the  assertion  that  the 
Southern  people  hate  the  negroes,  my  sur 
prise  is  renewed ;  but  a  hostility,  not  now  or 
heretofore  existing,  between  the  races  may  be 


LETTERS  FROM  FORTRESS  MONROE.      749 

engendered  by  just  such  influences  as  are  in 
dicated.  .  .  . 

"  On  the  night  of  the  I3th  I  was  sitting  be 
fore  the  fire,  because  I  could  not  sleep,  and 
had  a  startling  optical  illusion,  such  you  know 
as  were  common  to  me  in  fever ;  but  to  my 
vision,  I  saw  little  Pollie  *  walk  across  the 
floor  and  kneel  down  between  me  and  the 
fire,  in  the  attitude  of  prayer.  I  moved  from 
consequent  excitement  and  the  sweet  vision 
melted  away.  I  have  not  called  it  a  dream, 
because  not  conscious  of  being  asleep,  but 
sleep  has  many  stages,  and  that  only  is  per 
fect  sleep  which  we  call  Death. 

"  To  use  your  expressive  phrase,  I  am  hun 
gry  for  the  children's  little  faces,  and  have  ha 
bitually  to  resist  the  power  of  tender  feelings 
which  may  not  be  gratified.  .  .  .  To 
look  only  to  those  hopes  of  which  man  can 
not  deprive  me,  and  to  such  relief  as  a  record 
may  afford,  in  the  event  to  which  my  enemies 
refer  as  a  means,  not  of  learning  the  truth  and 
doing  justice,  but  of  condemnation  and  pun 
ishment." 

*  The  name  of  a  sister  he  loved,  and  applied  as  an  endearment 
to  little  Maggie. 


750  JEFFERSON  DAVIS. 

From  President  Davis  to  Mrs.  Davis. 

"FORTRESS  MONROE,  VA.,  February  17,  1866. 

"  1 9th  day.  Mrs.  Clay,  after  her  return  to 
Washington,  sent  me  a  coffee-pot,  to  enable 
me  to  make  coffee  for 'myself.  Dr.  Cooper 
came  and  gave  me  full  instructions  as  to  its 
use,  making  very  good  coffee  as  a  part  of  the 
lecture.  I  have  followed  directions  not  with 
the  best  success  ;  indeed,  I  am  led  to  doubt 
whether  cooking  was  designed  to  be  my  vo 
cation.*  .  .  .  My  eyes  do  not  suffer  much 
from  inflammation  ;  but  the  neuralgia  of  the 
head  sometimes  renders  me  almost  blind  dur 
ing  the  paroxysm.  I  recollect  Frederick  Ma- 
ginnis  f  very  well ;  first  met  him  at  Manassas, 
and  had  a  very  favorable  opinion  of  him. 

"  The  '  Quadrilateral '  was  handed  to  me 
and  I  soon  found,  what  was  not  told,  that  it 
had  been  sent  by  you.  The  writer  has  at- 


*  This  little  coffee-pot  is  now  in  my  possession.  In  his  first  ef 
fort  at  cooking  he  wrenched  off  the  soldered  top  instead  of  taking  off 
the  dripper,  and  he  gently  and  apologetically  explained,  "I  did  not 
learn  to  cook  early  enough." 

f  A  colored  man  who  was  a  courteous,  refined  gentleman  in  his 
instincts.  He  offered  his  services  to  me  gratuitously  in  Georgia, 
which  were  accepted  on  the  usual  terms  of  remuneration,  and  he 
was  a  second  providence  to  us  by  his  care  of  Mr.  Davis  after  I  was 
allowed  to  go  to  him.  He  afterward  married  my  maid,  who  was  as 
dear  as  she  was  faithful  to  me,  and  they  both  live  now  in  Baltimore, 
respected  by  all  who  know  them. 


LETTERS  FROM  FORTRESS  MONROE.     751 

tempted  the  very  difficult  task  of  portraying 
the  inconsistencies  of  human  nature.  Sir 
Walter  Scott  alone  has  succeeded  in  doing 
it.  We  have  as  much  in  real  life  as  anyone 
can  need,  and  in  fiction  we  might  be  treated 
to  pictures  harmonized  in  coloring.  The  dis 
closure  of  Ida's  secret,  and  the  slaughter  of 
prisoners  who  had  laid  down  their  arms,  could 
not  have  been  done  by  one  as  true  and  gen 
erous  and  brave  as  the  hero  is  represented. 
The  horse  is  the  best  character  in  the  book, 
as  I  measure  them.  Do  you  recollect  '  Old 
Duke  '  the  horse  I  rode  in  the  Pawnee  cam 
paign  ?  He  might  have  stood  for  the  por 
trait,  except  that  even  in  extreme  age  he  was 
not  gentle.  .  .  ." 

"FORTRESS  MONROE,  VA.,  March  13,  1866. 

"  Your  reception  at  Macon  was  such  as  I 
anticipated  from  my  own  experience,  and  it 
is  so  much  the  more  valuable  because  those 
friends  have  little  demonstrativeness  and  no 
insincerity.  The  kind  manifestations  men 
tioned  by  you  as  made  by  the  negro  servants, 
are  not  less  touching  than  those  of  more  cul 
tivated  people.  I  liked  them,  and  am  grati 
fied  by  their  friendly  remembrance.  What 
ever  may  be  the  result  of  the  present  experi 
ment,  the  former  relation  of  the  races  was  one 


752  JEFFERSON  DAVIS. 

which  could  only  incite  to  harshness  a  very 
brutal  nature. 

"I  hope  the  reports  of  growing  despond 
ence,  because  of  political  action  leading  to  or 
ganizations  for  expatriation,  have  been  exag 
gerated.  All  cannot  go,  and  those  who  must 
stay  will  need  the  help  of  all  who  can  go 
away.  The  night  may  seem  long,  but  it  is 
the  part  of  fidelity  to  watch  and  wait  for 
morning. 

"  Warned  by  a  sad  experience  against  such 
calculations  as  would  make  hope  sanguine  and 
expectation  swift,  I  will  yet  hope,  though  in 
patience,  and  strive  to  find  adequate  protec 
tion  beneath  the  shield  of  the  conviction  that 
all  things  are  ordered  in  wisdom  and  mercy 
and  love,  that  I  may  fully  feel,  '  Even  so,  Fath 
er,  for  it  is  Thy  will/ 

"  .  .  ...  In  all  the  affairs  of  life  we  are 
reduced  to  choosing  between  evils,  every  sit 
uation  having  its  disadvantages.  You  recol 
lect  the  instructive  satire  of  Horace  on  the 
desire  for  change,  etc. 

"  Remember  me  most  affectionately  to  Ma. 
Tell  her  that  the  old  one  hit  Le  Roy  at  last, 
but  that  his  faith  held  out  and  he  never  cried 
'  quarter.'  .  .  . 

"  If  my  letter  seems  disjointed  and  obscure, 
do  not  infer  any  physical  ill  as  the  cause.  The 
tramping  and  creaking  of  the  sentinel's  boots 


LETTERS  FROM  FORTRESS  MONROE.     753 

disturb  me  so  as  to  render  it  difficult  to  write 
at  all.     .     .     ." 

"  FORTRESS  MONROE,  March  22,  1866. 

"  I  am  in  the  condition  to  give  the  highest 
value  to  quiet,  it  being  the  thing  never  al 
lowed  to  me  by  day  or  night.  .  .  . 

"  The  spring  is  slowly  appearing  and,  as 
well  as  the  calendar,  reminds  me  of  the  many 
months  during  which  I  have  been  closely  con 
fined  without  any  legal  proceeding,  or  even 
informal  notice  of  the  charges  and  evidence 
on  which  I  am  held  as  a  '  state  prisoner.' 
So  I  strive  to  possess  my  soul  in  patience,  and 
by  every  means  attainable  to  preserve  my 
health  against  undermining  circumstances. 
The  officers  of  the  guard  treat  me  with  all  the 
consideration  compatible  with  their  position." 

"FORTRESS  MONROE,    VA.,  April  8,  1866. 

".  .  .  Next  to  the  consciousness  of 
rectitude,  it  is  to  me  the  greatest  of  earthly 
consolations  to  know  that  those  for  whom  I 
acted  and  suffer,  approve  and  sympathize. 
It  is  common  in  cases  of  public  calamity  for 
those  who  feel  the  infliction,  to  seek  for  some 
object  on  which  to  throw  the  blame,  and  rare 
ly  has  it  happened  that  the  selection  has  been 
justly  or  generously  made.  .  ,  '  .  ' 
VOL.  II.— 48 


754  JEFFERSON  DAVIS. 

(( I  feel  deeply  indebted  to  Dr.  Craven  and 
the  ladies  of  his  family  for  a  benevolence 
which  had  much  to  suppress,  and  nothing 
selfish  to  excite,  it,  and  but  for  which  my 
captivity  would  soon  have  ended  in  death. 

"  The  letter  from  my  little  Polly  is  a  sweet, 
graceful  image  of  her  honest,  affectionate  heart. 
I  am  sure  she  will  be  a  comfort  and  honor  to 
her  family  in  after-years.  .  .  ." 

"FORTRESS  MONROE,  April  21,  1866. 

"  .  -.  ,  The  young  soldier  who  saw  you 
in  the  cars  at  Binghamton  reported  the  in 
terview,  and  described  how  bright  and  wide 
awake  little  Winnie  was.  It  was  a  great 
pleasure  to  me  to  hear  an  eye-witness. 

"  The  weather  is  quite  warm,  the  earth  is 
clothed  in  her  bright  robes  of  promise,  the 
birds  sing  joyously,  and  I  will  not,  like  the 
'  Bard  of  Avon,'  complain  that  they  are  so 
tuneful  while  '  I  so  weary  fu'  o'  care.' 
Though  not  the  voice  I  long  to  hear,  I  draw 
from  it  the  pleasure  it  was  designed  to  give 
by  the  bounteous  Creator,  who  did  not  mean 
that  man's  happiness  should  be  at  the  mercy 
of  man,  and  therefore  formed  him  for  com 
panionship  with  nature,  and  endowed  his  soul 
with  capacity  to  feed  on  hopes  which  live  be 
yond  this  fleeting  life.  .  .  . 

.     .          Often  has  it  occurred  in  the  world's 


LETTERS  FROM  FORTRESS  MONROE.     755 

history  that  fidelity  has  been  treated  as  a 
crime,  and  true  faith  punished  as  treason.  So 
it  cannot  be  before  the  Judge  to  whom  all 
hearts  are  open,  from  whom  no  secrets  are 
hid.  Dr.  Cooper  has  just  been  here  to  visit 
me,  he  says  all  which  is  needful  for  me  is  air 
and  exercise.  It  was  the  want  which  Cow- 
per's  bird  had,  and  hardly  had  bird  more  usu 
ally  sought  for  air  and  motion  than  I  did  when 
I  had  Byron's  '  Heritage  of  Woe.'  But  I  am 
not  of  Cato's  creed,  and  do  not  hold  that  it 
is  man's  wisdom  to  equal  the  swallow,  but 
man's  dignity  to  bear  up  against  trials  under 
which  the  lower  animals  would  sink.  Reso 
lution  of  will  may  not,  according  to  Father 
Timon,  prolong  indefinitely  our  earthly  exist 
ence,  but  it  will  do  much  to  sustain  the  tot 
tering  machine  beyond  the  observer's  calcula 
tion.  .  .  «./, 

"  23d.  You  can  imagine  how  one,  shut 
out  from  all  direct  communication  with  his 
friends,  dwells  upon  every  shadow  and  longs 
for  light. 

"  Yesterday  my  walk  was  extended  to  two 
hours,  and  I  hope  for  the  continuance  of  the 
extension,  as  the  good  doctor  has  urged  the 
necessity  for  more  air  and  exercise.  .  ,  ." 


CHAPTER    LXXIII. 

VISIT    TO  NEW   ORLEANS  AND  ADMISSION   TO   FOR 
TRESS   MONROE. 

PERMISSION  to  leave  Georgia  having  been  at 
last  obtained  through  General  Stedman's  in 
strumentality,  Mr.  Harrison  kindly  joined  me, 
and  we  left  Georgia  and  went  to  Louisiana 
and  Mississippi,  to  find  what  had  been  left  to 
us. 

In  Vicksburg,  where  Mr.  J.  E.  Davis  was, 
many  of  the  negroes  called  with  affectionate 
expressions.  A  warm  welcome  was  accorded 
me  everywhere,  and  especially  in  New  Or 
leans.  Here  I  saw  our  dashing  cavalry  offi 
cer,  General  Wheeler,  serving  in  a  hardware 
store.  Mr.  J.  U.  Payne,  Mr.  Davis's  life-long 
friend,  came  with  pressing  offers  of  money  and 
service,  which,  when  our  need  was  greater,  he 
more  urgently  pressed  upon  us.  It  was  with 
difficulty  that  the  milliners  and  merchants 
could  be  persuaded  to  accept  pay  for  the  few 
articles  I  could  afford  to  buy  to  replenish  my 
wardrobe. 

After  a  short  stay  which  demonstrated 
there  was  nothing  to  recover,  Mr.  Harrison, 


VISIT  tO  NElV  ORLEANS.  757 

my  nurse  and  baby,  and  Frederick  Maginnis, 
the  good  man  mentioned  in  a  foot-note  ap 
pended  to  Mr.  Davis's  letters,  and  I,  proceed 
ed  to  New  York  City,  where  it  had  been  in 
timated  by  President  Johnson  I  should  find 
permission  to  visit  my  husband.  We  remained 
in  New  York  over  ten  days,  but  no  permit 
came,  and  I  rejoined  my  children  after  a  year's 
absence  from  them. 

A  few  days  after  our  arrival,  a  rumor  came 
to  Montreal  that  Mr.  Davis  was  dying.  Upon 
hearing  this  I  telegraphed  the  President :  "  Is 
it  possible  that  you  will  keep  me  from  my  dy 
ing  husband  ?  "  He  responded  by  a  permis 
sion  to  go,  subject  to  conditions  to  be  stated 
at  the  fort,  and  sent  a  telegram  from  General 
Miles  saying  that  Mr.  Davis  was  in  his  usual 
health. 

I  left  Montreal  that  night,  and  with  my  in 
fant,  her  nurse,  and  Frederick  went  to  Fortress 
Monroe,  arriving  there  at  four  o'clock  A.M.  a 
cold,  raw  morning,  on  May  10,  1866,  just  a 
year  from  the  surrender  of  the  Confederacy. 
There  was  no  hotel  there  then,  and  we  sat  in 
the  little  open  waiting-room  until  half-past  ten. 
The  terror  of  what  the  parole  would  be,  the  anx 
iety  about  my  husband's  health,  and  the  poor 
baby  being  detained  in  the  raw  weather  with 
out  fire,  made  me  very  anxious  for  a  messenger 
from  the  fort.  At  last  he  came  in  the  person 


of  cheery,  kind  young  Lieutenant  Fessen- 
den,  who  snapped  his  fingers  at  the  baby  and 
made  friends  with  her  very  soon — children 
and  animals  are  good  judges  of  people,  and 
my  baby  saw  in  him  a  friendly  sympathy  that 
quieted  and  drew  her  to  him.  He  handed  me 
the  parole  not  to  take  deadly  weapons  to  my 
husband,  which  I  signed,  and  we  went  into  the 
casemate  assigned  to  me. 

Though  covered  by  ten  or  fifteen  feet  of 
earth  and  flanked  by  heavy  masonry  on  one 
side  and  earth  and  masonry  on  the  other  two, 
the  rooms  were  large  and  seemed  to  me  a 
great  boon,  since  I  could  remain  in -them  so 
near  my  husband.  I  had  not  been  there, 
however,  more  than  a  week  before  a  chill  and 
fever  warned  me  they  were  not  wholesome 
residences. 

In  a  little  while  General  Miles  came  in  and 
assured  me  of  "  Davis's  "  good  health.  He 
showed  the  same  economy  of  titles  in  speak 
ing  of  my  husband  from  the  time  I  went  there 
until  our  departure.  Sometimes  he  varied  his 
nomenclature  by  calling  him  "  Jeff  Davis  "  or 
-Jeff." 

He  asked  me  if  I  understood  the  terms  to 
be  that  I  was  to  take  no  "  deadly  weepons  " 
into  the  prison,  to  which  I  answered  in  the 
affirmative.  After  a  little  more  delay  an  offi 
cer  came  and  walked  with  me  to  Carroll  Hall, 


VISIT  TO  NEW  ORLEANS.  759 

on  the  opposite  side  of  the  fort.  There  were 
three  lines  of  sentries,  which  each  required  a 
pass-word  of  the  officer,  and  at  last  we  as 
cended  a  stairway,  turned  to  the  right,  and 
entered  the  guard-room,  where  three  young 
officers  were  sitting.  Through  the  bars  of 
the  inner  room  I  saw  Mr.  Davis's  shrunken 
form  and  glassy  eyes  ;  his  cheek  bones  stood 
out  like  those  of  a  skeleton.  Merely  crossing 
the  room  made  his  breath  come  in  short  gasps, 
and  his  voice  was  scarcely  audible. 

His  room  had  a  rough  screen  in  one  corner, 
a  horse-bucket  for  water,  a  basin  and  pitcher 
that  stood  on  a  chair  with  the  back  sawn  off 
for  a  washstand,  and  a  hospital  towel,  a  little 
iron  bedstead  with  a  hard  mattress,  one  pil 
low,  and  a  square  wooden  table,  a  wooden- 
seated  chair  that  had  one  short  leg  and  rocked 
from  side  to  side  unexpectedly,  and  a  Boston 
rocker,  which  had  been  sent  in  a  few  weeks  be 
fore.  His  table-cloth  was  a  copy  of  the  New 
York  Herald  spread  on  the  little  table.  I  was 
locked  in  with  him  and  sent  the  baby  home 
with  Frederick. 

The  bed  was  so  infested  with  insects  as  to 
give  a  perceptible  odor  to  the  room.  He 
knew  so  little  of  such  things  that  he  could 
not  imagine  what  annoyed  him  so  at  night, 
and  insisted  it  was  some  cutaneous  affection. 
His  dinner  was  brought  after  a  while  by  one 


76o  JEFFERSON  DAVIS. 

of  the  men,  and  was  good  enough,  had  it  not 
been  slopped  from  one  dish  to  another  in  the 
carriage  and  covered  by  a  gray  hospital  towel. 
To  a  fastidious  taste,  rendered  much  more 
so  by  illness,  this  was  very  offensive.  Mrs. 
Cooper  had,  however,  added  oysters  to  the 
menu  that  day,  and  he  ate  one  and  nothing 
else,  but  his  vitality  was  so  low  that  even  this 
small  amount  gave  him  intense  gastric  pain. 
The  passing  of  the  three  sentinels  by  the 
doors  and  window  rendered  me,  though  in 
strong  health,  so  nervous  I  could  scarcely 
keep  my  eyes  still. 

He  was  bitter  at  no  earthly  creature,  but 
expressed  supreme  contempt  for  the  petty 
insults  inflicted  hourly  upon  him  by  General 
Miles,  who,  he  said,  had  exhausted  his  in 
genuity  to  find  something  more  afflicting  to 
visit  upon  him.  Among  other  things,  he  told 
me  that  General  Miles  never  walked  with  him 
on  the  ramparts,  in  enforced  companionship, 
without  saying  something  so  offensive  and 
irritating  as  to  render  the  exercise  a  painful 
effort. 

Mr.  Davis  introduced  to  me  the  officers 
that  were  in  the  guard-room — Captains  Day 
and  Brewerton,  both  presentable  men,  with 
gentlemanly  manners  ;  and  it  was  comfort 
ing  to  hear  that  our  young  friend,  Colonel 
Henry  A.  Dupont  was  on  duty  there,  for  of 


VISIT  TO  N£W  ORLEANS.  761 

him  I  expected  every  gentlemanly  concession 
and  observance  consistent  with  his  duty,  and 
was  not  disappointed.  These,  and  other  gen 
tlemen  among  the  officers,  were  kind  and 
courteous  to  us,  and  the  friendly  regard  in 
duced  by  their  considerate  conduct  toward 
Mr.  Davis  has  been  a  constant  memory,  and 
still  survives  through  the  long  years  that  have 
intervened. 

At  first  General  Miles  fixed  the  shortest 
period  and  certain  hours  for  my  stay  with  Mr. 
Davis.  After  many  applications  to  spend  the 
evenings  with  him,  he  at  last  consented,  but 
if  the  General  came  over  to  the  guard-room 
and  found  us  cheerfully  talking  together, 
whether  at  seven,  at  eight,  or  at  ten  o'clock, 
he  left  the  room  and  sent  an  order  for  me  to 
go  home.  Once  or  twice  he  said  personally 
that  it  was  "  shutting  up  time."  I  entreated 
him  unavailingly  to  let  me  join  Mr.  Davis  in 
his  walks,  as  he  was  too  weak  to  walk  alone, 
and  would  avail  himself  of  my  arm,  though  he 
would  not  lean  on  General  Miles. 

One  day  the  General  sent  his  orderly  for 
me  to  come  to  headquarters,  and  I  went  in 
fear  and  trembling,  lest  someone  had  accused 
me  of  carrying  "  deadly  weepons."  He  re 
ceived  me  civilly,  and  then  said  he  had  sent 
for  me  to  see  the  orders  under  which  he  had 
shackled  Mr.  Davis.  To  say  that  my  blood 


762  ^EPPERSON  DAVIS. 

ran  cold  is  a  faint  expression  of  the  thrill  that 
went  through  me.  He  opened  a  large  ledger- 
book  and  showed  me  Mr.  Stanton's  order  to 
him,  to  adopt  any  means  that  would  insure  the 
prisoner's  safety.  I  told  him  I  did  not  see 
his  warrant  in  this  order.  He  said,  "  Mr. 
Stanton  knew  I  was  going  to  do  it,  and  I 
thought  it  necessary."  This  is  quoted  from 
notes  taken  immediately  after  the  conversa 
tion. 

He  said  he  had  given  Mr.  Davis  all  that 
a  gentleman  should  require,  and  I  suggested 
to  him  that  probably  some  gentlemen  were 
more  exacting  than  those  he  knew. 

Emboldened  by  his  evident  desire  to  explain, 
I  asked  him  why  as  much  clean  linen  had  not 
been  given  as  was  requisite,  and  as  many 
changes  of  outer  clothing  as  Mr.  Davis  re 
quired  had  not  been  sent  to  his  cell  ;  he  said 
he  thought  he  had  enough.  To  an  inquiry 
why  all  reading  matter  had  been  forbidden 
him,  General  Miles  answered  that  at  first  he 
was  expected  to  deprive  him  of  everything  ex 
cept  his  bible,  and  afterward,  that  he  had  been 
directed  to  "give  him  mental  ailment,"  which 
he  had  done.  A  proposition  so  stated  I  could 
not  dispute.  He  went  on  to  say  that  "  Davis 
would  not  beg,  was  a  sullen  prisoner,  and  when 
he  wanted  any  favor,  if  he  asked  for  it,  it  would 
be  given  to  him."  I  wanted  to  get  a  lighter 


TO  NEW  ORLEANS.  763 

suit  of  clothes  that  had  been  worn  but  once, 
when  my  husband  was  taken  prisoner.  Gen 
eral  Miles  disclaimed  any  knowledge  of  them, 
and  added  :  "  I  have  not  got  them,  and  would 
have  no  use  for  them ;  they  would  not  fit  me, 
you  know."  The  interview  had  been  so  fruit 
less  that  I  terminated  it  as  soon  as  possible, 
and  returned  to  the  casemate. 

Very  soon  after  my  arrival  there  General 
Burton  called  with  his  cheerful,  affectionate 
wife,  and  they  were,  from  the  first  day  until 
the  last,  most  kind  and  considerate  to  us,  as 
was  Mrs.  William  Hayes  and  the  other  offi 
cers'  wives  in  the  fort,  of  whom  there  were 
many  and  all  disposed  to  be  friendly. 

Mrs.  Hayes  petted  and  loved  our  baby,  who 
returned  her  affection  fourfold.  She  kindly 
sent  cream  every  day  to  Mr.  Davis  when  per 
mitted  to  do  so,  and  Mrs.  Cooper,  one  of  our 
own  dear  people,  did  everything,  and  more 
than  we  could  have  wished,  to  comfort  and 
cheer  us  in  our  misfortune,  in  which  her  kind 
husband  co-operated  with  her  cordially. 

General  Burton,  as  I  accidentally  learned, 
which  statement  was  afterward  verified  by 
him,  when  deciding  upon  a  casemate  for  me, 
was  advised  by  General  Miles  to  put  me  on 
the  side  of  the  fort  occupied  by  the  camp 
women  ;  he  said  there  was  an  impropriety  in 
associating  me  with  the  families  of  the  offi- 


764  JEFFERSON  DAVIS. 

h 

cers  ;  but  General  Burton  declined  to  offer  me 
the  indignity,  and  assigned  me  a  casemate  in 
the  row  with  the  officers'  wives. 

One  day  an  orderly  came  for  me  to  go  to 
the  prison ;  hitherto  an  officer  had  always  ac 
companied  me  past  the  sentinels.  I  thought 
nothing  of  it,  but  when  we  reached  the  guard 
room  the  captain  on  duty  apologized  for  not 
coming  in  person,  and  told  me  General  Miles 
had  said  a  prisoner's  wife  had  better  come 
over  with  an  orderly  and  unattended  by  an 
officer.  It  was  a  small  matter  to  me,  but 
these  refined,  kind-hearted  gentlemen  were 
unwilling  to  be  misunderstood.  General 
Miles,  I  heard,  denied  giving  the  order,  and 
the  officers  signed  a  statement  to  the  effect 
that  he  had  verbally  given  it  before  several 
witnesses  after  guard-mounting.  I  think  he 
made  no  further  denial. 

We  excused  much  to  General  Miles,  whose 
opportunities  to  learn  the  habits  of  refined 
people  were  said  to  have  been  few,  and  his 
sectional  feeling  was  very  bitter  ;  but  that  he 
should  not  have  been  moved  at  the  age  of 
twenty-six  by  the  evident  physical  and  men 
tal  anguish  of  his  prisoner,  and  should  have 
devised  ingenious  tortures  for  him,  we  could 
not  understand. 

Finally,  after  trying  sincerely  to  propitiate 
him,  my  efforts  ceased.  On  the  occasion  of  a 


VISIT  TO  NEW  ORLEANS.  765 

dressing-gown  having  been  sent  to  Mr.  Davis 
by  some  ladies  in  St.  Louis,  General  Miles 
noticed  the  arrival  of  the  package  addressed 
to  me,  and  the  fact  also  that  my  man-servant 
carried  white  napkins,  silver  table  furniture, 
and  delicate  viands  of  all  kinds  over  to  Car 
roll  Hall,  the  number  being  limited  only  by 
my  purse,  to  tempt  my  husband,  who  was 
slowly  dying  in  my  sight,  General  Miles  said 
to  me  :  "  This  fort  shall  not  be  made  a  depot 
for  delicacies,  such  as  oysters  and  luxuries  for 
Jeff  Davis.  I  shall  have  to  open  your  pack 
ages,  and  see  that  this  is  not  done." 

I  lost  all  my  hard-earned  patience  and  told 
him  I  was  not  his  prisoner,  and  he  would  not 
find  himself  justified  by  the  laws  in  infringing 
on  my  private  rights.  He  looked  at  me  a 
moment  and  said,  "  I  guess  I  couldn't,"  and 
desisted. 

A  few  days  after  this  Mr.  McCulloch  came 
to  the  fort  and  visited  Mr.  Davis.  I  was  not 
present  at  the  interview,  but  obtained  an  audi 
ence  with  him  at  Dr.  Cooper's  house.  Gen 
eral  Miles  remained  in  the  room,  and  unwill 
ing  to  leave  the  truth  untold,  or  to  annoy 
him,  I  asked  a  private  audience,  but  General 
Miles  said  he  felt  he  had  a  right  to  be  pres 
ent.  Then,  with  an  apology  to  him  for  plain 
speaking,  emboldened  by  Mr.  McCulloch's 
gentle,  sympathetic  manner,  I  laid  the  whole 


766  JEFFERSON  DAVIS. 

case  before  him.  When  the  matter  of  Gen 
eral  Miles's  objection  to  Mr.  Davis  having 
oysters  was  mentioned,  Mr.  McCulloch,  with 
a  quizzical  smile,  said  :  "  General,  oysters  are 
hardly  to  be  classed  as  luxuries  on  the  sea- 
coast,  are  they  ?  "  Enough  of  this  sickening 
retrospect,  my  memory  does  not  furnish  a  rec 
ord  of  the  thousand  little  stabs  he  gave  his 
emaciated,  gray-haired  prisoner.  Suffice  it  to 
say  that  he  used  his  power  to  insult  and  an 
noy  to  the  utmost,  and  in  ways  previously  un 
known  and  not  to  be  anticipated  by  gentlefolk. 

When  he  was  to  be  promoted  to  a  higher 
grade,  one  of  his  friends  wrote  to  Mr.  Da 
vis  for  an  expression  of  his  opinion  about 
General  Miles's  conduct  to  him,  saying  that, 
from  Mr.  Davis  not  having  characterized 
it  in  his  book,  it  was  hoped  he  would  say 
there  had  been  no  unsoldierly  persecution  of 
a  helpless  prisoner.  To  this  Mr.  Davis  sent 
a  most  emphatic  assertion  of  General  Miles's 
unmanly  and  cruel  conduct,  and  also  wrote  a 
letter  to  a  Senator  from  Mississippi  which 
did  not  reach  him,  owing  to  his  being  out  of 
town  when  the  confirmation  occurred,  else  it 
would  have  been  read  in  the  Senate. 

Sir  Hudson  Lowe  has  received,  in  the  years 
that  have  elapsed  since  Napoleon's  death,  the 
execration  of  all  brave  men  for  severities  prac 
tised  on  him  in  St.  Helena  ;  but  these  were 


VISIT  TO  NEW  ORLEANS.  767 

far  less  stringent,  and  the  insults  much  less 
overt  and  degrading  to  England  and  to  him 
self,  than  those  inflicted  by  General  Miles 
upon  Mr.  Davis.  Mr.  Davis's  silence  in  his 
book  was,  because  he  did  not  choose  to  ap 
peal  to  a  public  tribunal  to  characterize  the 
wrongs  he  could  not,  in  his  old  age  and 
broken  health,  avenge. 

One  day  General  Miles  came  to  the  prison 
and  said  something  not  recalled  with  sufficient 
clearness  for  repetition,  but  of  such  an  insult 
ing  character  that  Mr.  Davis  sprang  at  the 
bars,  and  as  General  Miles  recoiled,  he  said, 
"  But  for  these,  you  should  answer  to  me, 
now." 

My  husband  sank  daily,  until  I  feared  he 
would  not  live  through  the  month.  There 
was  unavoidable  noise  in  changing  guard 
during  the  night,  which  wakened  him  at  each 
relief.  His  eyes  had  always  been  intensely 
sensitive  to  a  light  while  sleeping,  and  the 
light  burned  brightly  all  night  in  his  room,  and 
the  tramp  of  the  sentinels  was  torture  to  him. 
In  his  nervous  condition  the  shifting  of  the 
foot  of  an  officer  in  the  guard-room  kept  him 
awake.  They  did  their  best  to  be  quiet,  and 
he  did  his  best  to  bear  the  noise,  but  it  was  a 
weary  struggle  for  life  and  a  slow  sinking 
into  death,  which  would  have  been  welcome 
but  for  the  charges  he  was  waiting  to  rebut 


;68  JEFFERSON  DAVIS. 

before  a  lawful  tribunal  on  earth.  Dr.  Coop 
er  exhausted  his  skill  to  support  the  sinking 
frame  which  had  borne  up  so  bravely,  but 
nothing  seemed  to  give  relief. 

I  went  to  Washington  to  gain  a  personal 
interview  with  the  President,  with  whom, 
though  we  had  been  in  the  same  city  at  inter 
vals  for  fifteen  years,  I  was  not  acquainted. 
My  object  was  to  obtain  from  him  permission 
to  take  the  lamp  out  of  Mr.  Davis's  room,  and 
other  little  ameliorations  of  his  sufferings. 
Our  old  friend,  Dr.  Thomas  Miller,  invited 
me  to  his  house,  and  I  asked  by  a  respectful 
note  an  audience  from  the  President.  He 
sent  me  a  verbal  message  of  a  discourteous 
character,  in  which  he  suggested  that  I  should 
personally  see  the  Republican  Senators  and 
importune  them  as  best  I  might.  This  course 
was,  however,  not  contemplated  by  me. 

Mr.  Reverdy  Johnson,  Mr.  Voorhies,  and 
Mr.  Saulsbury,  always  quick  to  espouse  the 
cause  of  the  helpless,  went  to  him  and  re 
monstrated  rather  sharply.  Under  this  pres 
sure  he  appointed  an  hour  to  see  me.  Gen 
eral  Grant  also  set  an  hour  for  an  audience, 
but  the  President  was  so  late  in  giving  audi 
ence  after  my  card  was  sent  up  that  General 
Grant,  after  waiting  an  hour,  courteously  left 
his  aide-de-camp  to  explain  that  he  had  an 
engagement  he  must  keep,  but  would  be  glad 


VISIT  TO  NEW  ORLEANS.  769 

if  he  could  serve  me  in  any  way,  and  Mr. 
Davis  never  forgot  the  courtesy,  nor  did  I. 
Senator  Wilson  called  with  kind  words  of 
sympathy  also,  as  did  my  dear  friends,  Mont 
gomery  Blair  and  Mrs.  Leigh.  This  was  my 
first  and  last  experience  as  a  supplicant. 

The  President  was  civil,  even  friendly,  and 
said,  "  We  must  wait,  our  hope  is  to  mollify 
the  public  toward  him."  I  told  him  that  the 
public  would  not  have  required  to  be  mollified 
but  for  his  proclamation  that  Mr.  Davis 
was  accessory  to  assassination,  and  added, 
"  I  am  sure  that,  whatever  others  believed, 
you  did  not  credit  it."  He  said  he  did  not, 
but  was  in  the  hands  of  wildly  excited  people, 
and  must  take  such  measures  as  would  show 
he  was  willing  to  sift  the  facts.  I  then  re 
sponded  that  there  was  never  the  least  in 
tercourse  between  Mr.  Davis  and  Booth,  or 
an  effort  to  establish  it,  and  remarked  that, 
"  if  Booth  had  left  a  card  for  Mr.  Davis  as  he 
did  for  you,  Mr.  President,  before  the  assas 
sination,  I  fear  my  husband's  life  would  have 
paid  the  forfeit ; "  to  which  the  President 
bowed  assent,  and  after  a  moment  of  silence 
remarked,  now  this  was  all  over,  and  time  was 
the  only  element  lacking  to  Mr.  Davis's  re 
lease. 

I  remarked  that,  having  made  a  procla 
mation  predicated  upon  the  perjury  of  base 
VOL.  II.— 49 


770  JEFFERSON  DA  VIS. 

men  suborned  for  that  purpose,  I  thought  he 
owed  Mr.  Davis  a  retraction  as  public  as  his 
mistake.  To  my  astonishment,  he  said  that 
he  was  laboring  under  the  enmity  of  many  in 
both  houses  of  Congress,  and  if  they  could 
find  anything  upon  which  to  hinge  an  im 
peachment  they  would  degrade  him  ;  and  with 
apparent  feeling  he  reiterated,  "  I  would  if  I 
co2ildy  but  I  cannot.^ 

While  we  were  speaking,  a  Senator  well- 
known  now,  but  of  whom  I  had  never  heard, 
insisted  upon  an  audience  and  was  admitted. 
He  was  a  lop-sided  man  who  stood  on  one 
leg  by  preference.  He  declined  to  sit,  but 
stood  quite  near  me,  with  one  leg  twisted 
around  his  stick,  and  threatened  the  Presi 
dent  in  such  a  manner  as  would  have  been 
thought  inadmissible  to  one  of  our  ser 
vants.  The  President  met  his  threats  with 
rising  color  but  a  stolid  calm  which  was  not 
defiance,  nor  was  it  indignation.  It  was  a 
very  painful  sight  to  me,  and  I  tried  not  to 
hear.  At  last  the  Senator  left,  and  the  Presi 
dent  said,  "  I  am  glad  you  saw  a  little  of  the 
difficulty  under  which  I  labor ;  trust  me,  every 
thing  I  can  do  will  be  done  to  help  Mr. 
Davis — has  he  thought  of  asking  pardon  ?  " 
I  answered  "  No,  and  I  suppose  you  did  not 
expect  this."  He  said  he  did  not,  and  added 
"just  now  I  cannot  withdraw  the  proclama- 


VISIT  TO  NEW  ORLEANS.  771 

tion."  He  kindly  hoped  the  pardon  granted 
to  J.  E.  Davis  had  covered  our  property  also. 
I  could  not  press  him  further.  It  was  a  new 
phase  of  humanity  to  me,  I  felt  sorry  for  a 
man  whose  code  of  morals  I  could  not  under 
stand.  And  so  we  parted,  with  kind  words 
and  courteous  manner  on  his  part,  and  much 
sympathy  for  his  miserable  state  on  mine. 

Some  weeks  passed  and  Mr.  Davis  became 
gradually  worse,  he  ate  less,  and  slept  little  ; 
he  had  never  become  accustomed  to  the 
unavoidable  noise  made  by  relieving  guard 
during  the  night  watches,  and  he  had  become 
so  emaciated  that  the  largest  part  of  his  thigh 
measured  less  than  an  ordinarily  stout  man's 
upper  arm.  I  appealed  to  Dr.  Cooper  for  a 
medical  opinion,  and  he  wrote  the  following 
letter: 

"FORTRESS  MONROE,  VA.,  May  23,  1866. 

"  MADAM  :  I  am  in  receipt  of  your  com 
munication  of  date,  in  which  you  ask  of  me 
'  how  the  health  of  your  husband  can  be  re 
cruited,  as  you  see  him  growing  weaker  and 
sinking  daily/ 

"  I  have  done  all  in  my  power  to  keep  his 
health  up,  but  I  must  own  I  see  him  becom 
ing  more  and  more  weak  day  by  day.  He 
has  been  well  cared  for  in  the  matter  of  food ; 
the  tramp  of  the  sentinels  he  no  longer  hears. 


772  JEFFERSON  DAVIS. 

He  has  exercise  one  hour  in  the  morning,  and 
as  much  as  he  wishes  for  after  four  in  the  af 
ternoon. 

"  Notwithstanding,  he  fails,  and  the  only 
thing  left  is  to  give  him  mental  and  bodily 
rest,  and  exercise  at  will. 

"  This  can  only  be  by  having  the  parole  of 
the  fort,  with  permission  to  remain  with  his 
family  now  residing  there. 

"  He  will  probably  recuperate. 

"  Your  obedient  servant, 

"  GEORGE  E.  COOPER, 
"  Surgeon  United  States  Army. 
"  MRS.  VARINA  DAVIS, 
"  Fortress  Monroe,  Va." 

This  was  sent  to  Washington — covered  by 
a  stronger  letter  written  by  Dr.  Cooper,  of  a 
private  nature,  which  we  did  not  see. 

General  Miles  was  about  this  time  relieved 
from  Fortress  Monroe,  to  which  he  had  been 
sent  apparently  for  the  specific  duty  of  jailor 
to  Mr.  Davis,  and  the  relief  was  great  to  us. 
General  Burton  received  permission,  if  he 
thought  it  consistent  with  Mr.  Davis's  safe 
keeping,  to  give  him  the  parole  of  the  fort  by 
day — which  the  General  gladly  did. 

As  soon  as  our  friends  knew  they  could 
visit  Mr.  Davis,  they  came  almost  every  day. 
Our  great  General  Gordon,  Preston  John- 


VISIT  TO  NEW  ORLEANS.  773 

ston,  and  numbers  of  other  friends  came  to  din 
ner  in  the  casemate,  and  chairs  being  scarce, 
they  sat  on  candle-boxes,  and  talked  of  their 
and  our  past,  and  toasted  in  silence  the  glor 
ious  dead  and  less  happy  living  heroes.  But 
the  sufferer's  improvement  was  almost  im 
perceptible,  and  life  came  back  slowly  into 
his  exhausted,  emaciated  body.  Leaning  on 
my  arm,  and  sitting  on  the  ramparts  every 
few  minutes  of  his  walk,  he  could  not  accom 
plish  a  hundred  yards  at  first,  but  gradually 
his  muscles  strengthened  ;  but  his  sleep  being 
broken,  his  improvement  was  checked.  He 
now  had  every  comfort  that  I  could  furnish 
in  his  little  prison,  but  still  became  more  and 
more  wasted,  and  had  not  ceased  to  stagger 
like  a  drunken  man. 

In  a  month  or  six  weeks  it  was  com 
municated  to  General  Burton  that  if  he 
thought  it  was  safe  to  offer  his  prisoner 
the  parole  of  the  fort,  he  could  do  so.  It- 
was  not  in  General  Burton's  kindly,  gener 
ous  nature  to  hesitate,  where  he  confided  in 
the  honor  of  a  man  for  the  time  subject  to  his 
authority.  The  full  parole  of  the  fort  was 
granted,  and  then  four  rooms  off  the  end  of 
Carroll  Hall  were  set  apart  for  us,  with  a  kit 
chen  at  the  back,  and  we  were  as  comfortable 
as  people  could  be  who  could  "  not  get  out." 

Excursion   parties  came  to  the  fort   still  to 


774  JEFFERSON  DAVIS. 

peer  at  Mr.  Davis,  and  one  day  a  vulgarian 
inquired  of  Frederick  the  whereabouts  of 
"Jeff."  He  answered  with  a  bow,  "I  am 
sorry,  madam,  not  to  be  able  to  tell  you  where 
he  is.  I  do  not  know  such  a  person."  She  in 
sisted  that  he  did,  saying,  are  you  not  his  ser 
vant?  "  No,  madam,"  he  answered,  "  you  are 
quite  mistaken,  I  have  the  honor  to  serve  ex- 
President  Davis." 

At  another  time,  when  I  wanted  him  to  ask 
some  of  our  special  friends  among  the  officers, 
and  notably  General  Burton,  to  see  him  wed 
my  maid,  he  said,  "  Please  excuse  me,  I  will 
send  them  as  much  cake  and  wine  as  you 
choose,  but  cannot  receive  people  as  guests 
who  hold  Mr.  Davis  a  prisoner."  What  this 
judicious,  capable,  delicate-minded  man  did  for 
us  could  not  be  computed  in  money,  or  told  in 
words  ;  he  and  his  gentle  wife  took  the  sting 
out  of  many  indignities  offered  to  us  in  our 
-hours  of  misfortune.  They  were  both  objects 
of  affection  and  esteem  to  Mr.  Davis  as  long 
as  he  lived. 

Our  sister,  Miss  Howell,  came  to  the  fort 
and  remained  with  us,  much  to  Mr.  Davis's 
delight.  The  Right  Reverend  Bishop  Lynch, 
Father  O'Keefe,  from  Norfolk,  the  Rever 
ends  William  Brand,  Barton,  and  Minnege- 
rode,  the  latter  our  beloved  pastor,  came 
often  to  see  Mr.  Davis,  as  well  as  charming- 


VISIT  TO  NEW  ORLEANS.  775 

people  from  Baltimore,  Richmond,  Norfolk, 
and  the  surrounding  country  ;  they  generally 
remained  to  dinner,  and  left  in  the  evening 
boat ;  wine  and  delicacies  of  all  kinds  were 
pressed  upon  us  by  our  friends.  The  Bishop 
of  Montreal  sent  green  chartreuse  from  his 
own  stores,  and  to  this  powerful  digestive 
stimulant  the  little  Mr.  Davis  ate  was  due. 
He  could  only  sleep  when  read  to,  and  many 
times  the  day  broke  on  me  as  he  slept  under 
the  sound  of  my  voice,  with  my  hand  on  his 
pulse  ;  at  times  it  would  stop,  and  then  he 
was  wakened  and  a  glass  of  chartreuse  given 
him,  with  one  of  half  a  dozen  things  kept 
ready  for  him  to  eat.  Dr.  Cooper  said  the 
walls  of  his  heart  were  so  weak,  that  a  sound 
sleep  might  prove  his  death  if  too  long  con 
tinued  ;  and  so  he  came  back  slowly  into 
life,  though  reduced  to  a  walking  skeleton. 
Never  during  this  extreme  torture  and  har 
rowing  anxiety  did  his  dignity  give  way,  or 
his  high  bearing  quail  before  the  torment. 
He  was  too  refined  and  dignified  to  be  abus 
ive,  and  too  proud,  in  General  Miles's  delicate 
phrase,  to  "beg."  He  suffered  as  only  men 
of  his  temperament  can,  but  held  aloft  the 
standard  of  Confederate  fealty  and  Christian 
virtue. 

In   the   meanwhile,    Mr.    Charles  O'Conor, 
with  every  effort  in  his  power,  pushed  on  the 


776  JEFFERSOiV  DAVIS. 

trial ;  and  Mr.  John  Garrett,  whose  first  im 
pulse  was  sympathy  with  the  sorrows  of  man 
kind,  has  most  accurately  related  his  efforts 
to  secure  my  husband's  release  ;  and  for  both 
Mr.  Davis  has  always  since  felt  the  most  sin 
cere  gratitude  and  affection.  Want  of  space 
has  forced  me  unwillingly,  in  his  case  as  in 
that  of  many  others,  to  condense  their  state 
ments,  but  I  quote  them  as  they  are,  only 
changing  a  few  words. 

"  In  May,  1866,  an  indictment  was  procured 
against  the  ex-chieftain,  in  the  United  States 
District  Court  of  Virginia,  held  in  Richmond. 
On  June  nth,  of  the  same  year,  on  motion  of 
Mr.  Boutwell,  the  House  of  Representatives, 
by  a  vote  of  105  yeas  to  19  nays,  resolved 
that  Mr.  Davis  '  should  be  held  in  custody 
as  a  prisoner  and  subjected  to  a  trial  accord 
ing  to  the  laws  of  the  land.'  Mr.  Davis,  in 
the  meantime,  was  exceedingly  anxious  to 
meet  the  questions  arising  on  any  indictment 
which  might  be  presented.  The  Constitution 
of  the  United  States  guaranteed  to  every  citi 
zen  a  speedy  trial,  and  he  was  anxious  to  re 
ceive  the  advantages  and  enjoy  the  rights  ot 
a  just,  equal,  and  fair  trial.  It  was  not  writ 
ten,  however,  that  he  should  be  tried  for 
treason.  Even  President  Johnson  and  Gen 
eral  Grant  saw  the  mistake  of  his  capture, 
and  Chief  Justice  Chase  understood  the  im- 


VISIT  TO  NEW  ORLEANS.  777 

policy  of  his  trial.  Little  by  little,  as  reason 
returned,  Northern  men  like  Greeley  and 
Gerrit  Smith  came  forward  to  do  a  great  act 
of  justice,  looking  toward  his  honorable  liber 
ation. 

"  In  1867,  as  the  May  term  of  the  United 
States  Circuit  Court  in  Virginia  approached, 
the  counsel  for  Mr.  Davis,  encouraged  by  his 
devoted  and  faithful  wife,  determined  to  make 
one  grand  effort  for  his  trial  or  unconditional 
discharge.  The  Chief  Justice,  the  Attorney- 
General,  and  the  Secretary  of  War  were  op 
posed  to  an  early  trial.  Many  efforts  were 
then  made  with  President  Johnson  to  procure 
the  pardon  of  Mr.  Davis.  He  said,  he  made 
it  an  inflexible  rule,  '  never  to  grant  a  pardon 
on  petition,  unless  it  was  accompanied  by  an 
application  from  the  individual  seeking  the 
executive  clemency/  Mr.  Davis,  on  the 
other  hand,  always  said,  '  to  ask  for  pardon 
was  a  confession  of  guilt/  and  that  such  an 
application  would  prejudice  his  case. 

"  As  soon  as  it  was  known  that  the  Govern 
ment  would  not  try  him,  a  movement  was  set 
on  foot  to  secure  his  release  on  bond.  Mrs. 
Jefferson  Davis  heard  that  Mr.  John  W.  Gar- 
rett,  then  president  of  the  Baltimore  &  Ohio 
Railroad,  possessed  great  influence  over  Sec 
retary  Stanton,  and  determined,  if  possible, 
to  obtain  his  aid  in  securing  her  husband's 


778  JEFF£KSON  DAVIS. 


release.  In  this  respect,  she  could  not  have 
selected  a  more  influential  person  to  accomplish 
her  end.  Mr.  Garrett  and  Mr.  Stanton  were 
always  warm  personal  friends.  President 
Lincoln  and  Secretary  Stanton  expressed  in 
the  warmest  terms  their  appreciation  of  the 
aid  which  he  had  often  rendered  them. 

"  Upon  one  occasion,"  Mr.  Garrett  said, 
"  Charles  W.  Russell,  formerly  of  Wheeling, 
Va.,  came  to  my  office  at  Camden  Station 
and  sent  in  his  card.  Being  at  the  moment 
very  much  engaged,  I  detained  him  for  an 
hour,  but  hastened  to  see  Mr.  Russell  as  soon 
as  I  could,  and  to  my  astonishment  found  him 
accompanied  with  a  lady  who  was  closely 
veiled,  and  who  was  the  wife  of  Jefferson 
Davis.  After  assuring  them  that  I  had  not 
known  any  lady  was  waiting,  I  asked  the  oc 
casion  of  Mrs.  Davis's  visit.  She  replied 
that  she  had  just  arrived  from  Fortress  Mon 
roe,  where  her  husband  was  so  closely  con 
fined  that  unless  he  could  be  quickly  released 
he  would  die  ;  that  she  had  been  informed 
I  possessed  great  influence  with  Mr.  Stanton, 
and  had  come  to  beg  my  active  aid  for  the  re 
lease  of  Mr.  Davis.  She  asked  me  to  go  to 
Washington  with  her,  but  that,  I  assured  her, 
was  impolitic  ;  I  would  go  alone,  ascertain 
the  prospect,  and  report  to  her.  She  was 
stopping  with  Mr.  John  S.  Gittings.  During 


VISIT  TO  NEW  ORLEANS.  779 

our  conversation  Mrs.  Davis  said  that  she 
had  received  a  message  from  Mr.  McCulloch, 
on  his  way  from  Fortress  Monroe,  that  she 
could  rely  on  his  aid  in  the  matter.  I  went 
immediately  to  Washington,  saw  Mr.  McCul 
loch,  and  told  him  that  I  had  come  to  see 
Stanton  about  the  release  of  Mr.  Davis. 
Mr.  McCulloch  was  thunderstruck,  and  said 
it  was  useless  to  see  Mr.  Stanton,  and  that 
Mr.  Davis's  release  was  impossible.  I  told 
him  what  Mrs.  Davis  had  said  about  his  aid. 
Finally  we  called  in  the  Attorney-General, 
Mr.  Stansberry.  Our  errand  was  stated  by 
Mr.  McCulloch,  and  the  Attorney-General 
remarked,  after  talking  the  matter  over,  that 
he  had  seen  stranger  things  than  that  done  ; 
that  he  could  see  no  objection  to  my  making 
the  effort.  I  told  them  that,  notwithstanding 
their  unfavorable  opinion,  I  would  see  Stan- 
ton  and  make  an  effort  for  the  release  of  Mr. 
Davis.  We  learned  at  the  office  that  the 
Secretary  of  War  was  sick,  and  had  refused 
to  see  anyone  ;  but,  nevertheless,  I  asked  my 
colleagues  to  wait,  until  I  returned  from  my 
visit  to  Mr.  Stanton.  I  immediately  drove 
to  his  house,  sent  up  my  card,  and  was 
promptly  admitted.  He  was  lying  on  a 
lounge,  too  ill  to  rise.  I  stated  frankly  the 
matter  that  had  brought  me  to  disturb  his  re 
pose.  As  I  expected,  Mr.  Stanton  exhibited 


780  JEFFERSON  DAVIS. 

much  anger,  but  I  told  him  that  two  at  least 
of  the  cabinet  were  willing  for  the  release  ; 
that  the  President  only  waited  his  order  for 
release  ;  that  the  country  would  approve  such 
action  ;  and  lastly,  Mr.  Davis's  health  was  fail 
ing,  and  that  his  death  in  prison  would  be 
most  embarrassing  to  the  United  States. 
Our  discussion  was  long,  and  often  sharp,  for 
I  was  not  to  be  set  back  by  anything  short  of 
a  positive  refusal,  and  that  I  should  have 
combated  before  the  President.  At  last  he 
remarked  that  he  would  raise  no  objection  to 
the  Attorney-General  arranging  for  the  re 
lease.  With  this  answer  I  returned  to  Mr. 
Stansberry  ;  the  preliminaries  were  arranged, 
and  the  name  of  Horace  Greeley  was  sug 
gested  by  me  and  accepted  by  Mr.  Stans 
berry  as  one  of  Mr.  Davis's  bondsmen.  It 
was  decided  that  Mr.  Charles  O'Conor,  one 
of  Mr.  Davis's  counsel,  should  come  to  Wash 
ington  and  arrange  the  terms.  Reporting  the 
result  of  my  interview  to  Mrs.  Davis,  it  was 
arranged  that  William  Prescott  Smith  should 
go  to  New  York  for  Mr.  Greeley,  and  bring 
him  to  my  house,  and  thereupon  the  release 
of  Mr.  Davis  was  arranged." 

Mr.  Shea  wrote  a  letter,  of  which  I  give 
the  substance,  which  will  more  accurately 
relate  the  circumstances  of  Mr.  Davis's  re 
lease  than  I  could :  "  Mr.  Horace  Greeley 


VISIT  TO  NEW  ORLEANS.  781 

received  a  letter,  dated  June  22,  1865,  from 
Mrs.  Davis,  written  at  Savannah,  Ga.,  where 
she  and  her  family  were  detained  under 
a  sort  of  military  restraint.  Mr.  Davis  was 
at  Fortress  Monroe ;  and  the  conspicuous 
charge  against  him  made  by  the  (  Bureau  of 
Military  Justice  '  was,  of  being  accessory  to 
the  assassination  of  President  Lincoln.'  The 
letter  implored  Mr.  Greeley  to  insist  upon  a 
speedy  trial  of  her  husband  upon  that  charge, 
and  upon  all  other  supposed  cruelties  that 
were  alleged  he  had  inflicted.  A  public  trial 
was  prayed,  that  the  accusations  might  be  pub 
licly  met,  and  her  husband  vindicated.  To 
this  letter  Mr.  Greeley  at  once  answered 
Mrs.  Davis,  and  directed  it  to  the  care  of  Gen 
eral  Birge,  at  Savannah.  The  morning  of  the 
next  day  Mr.  Greeley  came  to  my  residence 
and  placed  Mrs.  Davis's  letter  in  my  hand, 
saying  that  he  could  not  believe  the  charge 
true.  He  asked  me  to  become  professionally 
interested  in  behalf  of  Mr.  Davis.  I  told  Mr. 
Greeley  that,  unless  our  Government  was 
willing  to  have  it  inferred  that  Wirz  was 
convicted  and  his  sentence  of  death  infiicted 
unjustly,  it  could  not  now  overlook  the  supe 
rior  zv/io  was,  at  least  popularly,  regarded  as 
the  moving  cause  of  those  wrongs*  I  thought 

*  The  italics  are  the  author's. 


782  JEFFERSON  DAVIS. 

that  my  services  before  a  military  tribunal 
would  be  of  little  benefit.  I  consulted  with 
such  friends,  and  Mr.  Henry  Wilson,  Gov 
ernor  John  A.  Andrew,  Mr.  Thaddeus  Ste 
vens,  and  Mr.  Gerrit  Smith.  The  result  was 
that  I  undertook  to  do  whatever  became  feas 
ible.  Mr.  Charles  O'Conor  was,  from  the 
first,  esteemed  the  most  valuable  man  to  lead 
for  the  defence  by  Mr.  Greeley  and  Mr.  Ger 
rit  Smith.  Public  expectation  looked  to  him, 
and  he  had  already  volunteered  his  services 
to  Mr.  Davis.  Mr.  O'Conor's  personal  honor 
was  without  reproach ;  his  courage  without 
fear ;  his  learning,  erudition,  and  propriety  of 
professional  judgment  conceded  as  pre-emin 
ent. 

"  There  was  a  general  agreement  among  the 
gentlemen  of  the  Republican  party  whom  I 
have  mentioned,  that  Mr.  Davis  did  not  by 
thought  or  act  participate  in  a  conspiracy 
against  Mr.  Lincoln  /  and  none  of  those  ex 
pressed  that  conviction  more  emphatically  than 
Mr.  Thaddeus  Stevens.  The  single  subject 
on  which  light  was  desired  by  them  was  con 
cerning  the  treatment  of  our  soldiers  while 
in  the  hands  of  the  enemy.  The  Tribune  of 
May  17,  1865,  tells  the  real  condition  of  feel 
ing  at  that  moment,  and  shows  that  it  was 
not  favorable  to  Mr.  Davis  on  this  matter. 
At  the  instance  of  Mr.  Greeley,  Mr.  Wilson, 


VISIT  TO  NEW  ORLEANS.  783 

and,  as  I  was  given  to  understand,  of  Mr. 
Stevens,  I  went  to  Canada  the  first  week  in 
January,  1866,  taking  Boston  on  my  route, 
there  to  consult  with  Governor  Andrew  and 
others.  While  at  Montreal  I  had  placed  in 
my  possession  the  official  archives  of  the 
Government  of  the  Confederate  States,  which 
I  read,  especially  all  the  messages  and  other 
acts  of  the  Executive  sent  to  the  Senate  in 
its  secret  sessions  concerning  the  care  and 
exchange  of  prisoners.  Individually,  and 
through  their  representatives  at  Richmond, 
the  people  of  the  South  pressed  upon  Mr. 
Davis,  as  the  Executive  and  as  the  Comman 
der-in-chief  of  the  Army  and  Navy,  instant 
recourse  to  active  measures  of  retaliation,  to 
the  end  that  the  supposed  cruelties  to  their 
soldiers  in  prison  might  be  stayed.  Mr. 
Davis's  conduct,  under  such  urgency,  was  a 
circumstance  all-important  in  determining  the 
justice  of  the  charge  against  himself.  It  was 
decisively  manifest,  from  these  sources  of  in 
formation,  that  Mr.  Davis  unflinchingly  set 
himself  in  opposition  to  such  demands,  and 
declined  to  resort  to  any  measure  of  violent 
retaliation.  It  impaired  his  personal  influ 
ence,  and  brought  much  censure  iipon  him 
from  many  in  the  South,  who  sincerely  be 
lieved  the  reports  spread  among  the  people  to 
be  true. 


784  JEFFERSON  DAVIS. 

"  The  result  of  my  examination  was  that 
these  gentlemen,  and  those  others  in  sympathy 
with  them,  changed  their  former  suspicion  to 
a  favorable  opinion.  They  were  from  this 
time  kept  informed  of  movements  made  to 
liberate  Mr.  Davis  or  to  compel  a  trial.  All 
this  took  place  before  anyone  acting  on  his 
behalf  was  allowed  to  communicate  with  or 
see  him. 

"  The  Tribune,  at  once  began  a  series  of 
leading  editorials  demanding  that  our  Gov 
ernment  proceed  to  a  trial;  and  on  January 
1 6,  1867,  Senator  Howard,  of  Michigan,  of 
fered  a  joint  resolution,  aided  by  Mr.  Sumner, 
'  recommending  the  trial  of  Jefferson  Davis 
and  Clement  C.  Clay  before  a  military  tribu 
nal  or  court-martial,  for  charges  mentioned  in 
the  report  of  the  Secretary  of  War,  of  March 
4,  1 866.'  I  was  then  credibly  informed  that 
Mr.  Thaddeus  Stevens  had  volunteered  as 
counsel  for  Mr.  Clay. 

"  After  it  had  become  evident  that  there 
was  no  immediate  prospect  of  a  trial,  the  coun 
sel  for  Mr.  Davis  became  anxious  that  their 
client  be  liberated  on  bail,  and  one  of  them 
consulted  Mr.  Greeley  as  to  the  feasibility  of 
procuring  names  of  persons  as  bondsmen 
who  had  conspicuously  opposed  the  war  of 
secession.  This  was  easy  ;  and  Mr.  Gerrit 
Smith  and  Commodore  Vanderbilt  were 


VISIT  TO  NEW  ORLEANS.  785 

selected,  and  Mr.  Greeley,  in  case  his  name 
should  be  found  necessary.  This  could  not 
have  been  accomplished  had  not  those  gentle 
men,  and  others  in  sympathy  with  them,  been 
already  convinced  that  the  charges  against  Mr. 
Davis  were  unfounded.  An  application  was 
made  on  June  u,  1866,  to  Justice  Underwood, 
at  Alexandria,  Va.,  for  a  writ  of  habeas 
corpus,  which,  after  argument,  was  denied, 
upon  the  ground  that  '  Jefferson  Davis  was 
arrested  under  a  proclamation  of  the  Presi 
dent  charging  him  with  complicity  in  the 
assassination  of  the  late  President  Lincoln. 
He  has  been  held/  says  the  decision,  '  ever 
since,  and  is  now  held,  as  a  military  prisoner.' 
The  Washington  Chronicle  of  that  date 
insisted  that  the  '  case  is  one  well  entitled  to 
a  trial  before  a  military  tribunal ;  the  testi 
mony  before  the  Judiciary  Committee  of  the 
House,  all  of  it  bearing  directly,  if  not  con 
clusively,  on  a  certain  intention  to  take  the 
life  of  Mr.  Lincoln,  is  a  most  important  ele 
ment  in  the  case.'  This  was  reported  to  be 
from  the  pen  of  Mr.  John  W.  Forney  himself, 
then  Clerk  of  the  Senate.  The  House  of 
Representatives,  on  motion  of  Mr.  Boutwell, 
of  Massachusetts,  the  following  day  passed  a 
resolution  '  that  it  was  the  opinion  of  the 
House  that  Jefferson  Davis  should  be  held  in 
custody  as  a  prisoner,  and  subject  to  trial  ac- 
.  ii.— 50 


786  JEFFERSON  DA  VIS. 

cording   to  the    laws    of  the    land.'     It    was 
adopted  by  a  vote  of  105  to  19. 

"It  is  very  suggestive  that,  in  the  inter 
mediate  time,  Mr.  Clement  C.  Clay  had  been 
discharged  from  imprisonment  without  being 
tried  on  either  of  these  charges,  upon  which 
he  had  been  arrested,  and  for  which  arrest  the 
$100,000  had  been  paid. 

"  This  failure  to  liberate  Mr.  Davis  induced 
Mr.  Greeley,  and  those  friends  who  were  acting 
with  him,  to  meet  the  issue  promptly  and  to  push 
the  Government  to  a  trial,  or  to  withdraw  the 
charge  made  by  its  Board  of  Military  Justice. 
Mr.  Greeley  hastened  back  to  New  York,  and 
The  Tribune  of  June  12,  1866,  contained,  in  a 
leader  from  his  pen,  this  unmistakable  de 
mand  and  protest : 

.  "  '  How  and  when  did  Davis  become  a  pris 
oner  of  war?  He  was  not  arrested  as  a  pub 
lic  enemy,  but  as  a  felon  officially  charged,  in 
the  face  of  the  civilized  world,  with  the  foul 
est,  most  execrable  guilt — that  of  having  sub 
orned  assassins  to  murder  President  Lincoln, 
a  crime  the  basest  and  most  cowardly  known 
to  mankind  It  was  for  this  that  $  1 00,000  was 
offered  and  paid  for  his  arrest.  And  the  proc 
lamation  of  Andrew  Johnson  and  William  H. 
Seward,  offering  this  reward,  says  his  compli 
city  with  Wilkes  Booth  &  Co.  is  established 
"by  evidence  now  in  the  Bureau  of  Military 


VISIT  TO  NEW  ORLEANS.  787 

Justice."  So  there  was  no  need  of  time  to 
hunt  it  up. 

"  '  It  has  been  asserted  that  Davis  is  re 
sponsible  for  the  death  by  exposure  and  fam 
ine  of  our  captured  soldiers  ;  and  his  offi 
cial  position  gives  plausibility  to  the  charge. 
Yet,  while  Henry  Wirz  was  long  ago  ar 
raigned,  tried,  convicted,  sentenced,  and 
hanged  for  this  crime — no  charge  has  been 
officially  preferred  against  Davis.  So  we 
presume  none  is  to  be.' 

"  The  Tribune  kept  repeating  this  demand 
during  that  year,  and  admonished  the  Gov 
ernment  of  the  absurdity  of  its  position,  not 
daring,  seemingly,  to  prosecute  a  great  crim 
inal  against  whom  it  had  officially  declared  it 
was  possessed  of  evidence  to  prove  the 
crime. 

"  The  Government  did  not  proceed  with 
the  trial.  Another  year  had  passed  since  the 
capture  of  Mr.  Davis,  and  now  another  at 
tempt  to  liberate  him  by  bail  was  to  be  made. 
The  Government,  by  its  conduct,  having 
tacitly  abandoned  those  special  charges  of  in 
humanity,  a  petition  for  a  writ  was  to  be 
presented  by  which  the  prisoner  might  be 
tried  by  the  civil  authority  to  answer  the  in 
dictment  for  treason.  Mr.  Wilson,  Chairman 
of  the  Committee  of  Military  Affairs,  offered 
in  the  Senate,  on  March  18,  1867,  a  resolution 


788  JEFFERSOAr  DAVIS. 

urging1  the  Government  to  proceed  with  the 
trial.  The  remarkable  thoughts  and  lan 
guage  of  that  resolution  were  observed  at  the 
time,  and  necessarily  caused  people  to  infer 
that  Mr.  Wilson,  at  least,  was  not  under  the 
delusion  that  the  Government  really  had  a 
case  on  either  of  those  two  special  charges 
against  Mr.  Davis  ;  and  a  short  time  after 
this  Mr.  Wilson  went  to  Fortress  Monroe  to 
see  Mr.  Davis.  The  visit  was  simply  friendly, 
and  not  for  any  purpose  relating  to  his  liber 
ation. 

"  On  May  14,  1867,  Mr.  Davis  was  de 
livered  to  the  civil  authority  ;  was  at  once  ad 
mitted  to  bail,  Mr.  Greeley  and  Mr.  Gerrit 
Smith  going  personally  to  Richmond,  in  at 
testation  of  their  belief  that  wrong  had  been 
done  to  Mr.  Davis  in  holding  him  so  long 
accused  upon  those  charges,  now  abandoned. 
Commodore  Vanderbilt  signed  the  bond 
through  Mr.  Horace  F.  Clark,  his  son-in-law, 
and  Mr.  Augustus  Schell,  his  friend. 

" .  .  .  Mr.  Greeley's  enormous  sacrifice 
to  compel  justice  to  be  done  to  one  man,  and 
he  an  enemy,  should  be  written. 

"  Mr.  Thaddeus  Stevens,  in  May,  1866, 
related  to  me  how  the  Chief  of  this  '  Military 
Bureau '  showed  him  '  the  evidence '  upon 
which  the  proclamation  was  issued  charging 
Messrs,  Davis  and  Clay  with  complicity  in  the 


VISIT  TO  NEW  ORLEANS.  7^9 

assassination  of  Mr.  Lincoln.  He  said  he 
refused  to  give  the  thing1  support,  and  that  he 
said  the  evidence  was  insufficient  and  incredi 
ble.  I  am  not  likely  ever  to  forget  the  earn 
est  manner  in  which  Mr.  Stevens  then  said : 
1  Those  men  are  no  friends  of  mine.  They 
are  public  enemies  ;  but  I  know  these  men, 
sir.  '  They  are  gentlemen,  and  incapable  of 
being  assassins/ 

"  GEORGE  SHEA. 

"No.  205  WEST  FORTY-SIXTH  STREET, 
"NEW  YORK,  January  15,  1876." 

In  accordance  with  the  programme  ar 
ranged  between  Mr.  Garrett  and  the  counsel 
for  Mr.  Davis  on  May  ist,  petition  to  the 
United  States  Circuit  Court  was  presented  to 
Judge  Underwood,  at  Alexandria,  Va.,  to 
grant  the  writ  of  habeas  corpus. 

Judge  Underwood  issued  the  writ  to  Mr. 
Shea,  who  took  it  to  Richmond  and  placed  it 
in  the  hands  of  United  States  Marshal  Under 
wood  for  service. 

The  writ  was  served  on  General  Burton, 
the  commander  of  Fortress  Monroe,  by  Mar 
shal  Underwood  and  Deputy  Marshal  W.  A. 
Duncan,  on  May  loth.  General  Burton  had 
previously  received  the  following  orders  from 
Washington  : 


79&  JEFFE&SON'  DA  VIS. 

"WAR  DEPARTMENT,  WASHINGTON,  D.  C. 
May  8,  1867. 

"  BREVET  BRIGADIER-GENERAL  H.  S.  BUR 
TON,  United  States 'Army,  or  Commanding 
Officer  at  Fortress  Monroe. 

"  The  President  of  the  United  States  directs 
that  you  surrender  Jefferson  Davis,  now  held 
and  confined  under  military  authority  at  -For 
tress  Monroe,  to  United  States  Marshal  or 
deputies,  upon  any  process  which  may  issue 
from  a  Federal  court  in  the  State  of  Virginia. 
You  will  report  the  action  taken  by  you  under 
this  order,  and  forward  a  copy  of  any  process 
served  upon  you  to  this  office. 

"  By  order  of  the  President, 

"E.   D.  TOWNSEND, 

"  Assistant  Adjutant-  General!' 

General  Burton,  in  the  interview  with  the 
Marshal,  at  first  decided  to  deliver  Mr.  Davis 
to  him  on  the  following  morning,  but  after 
ward  determined  to  obey  the  writ  of  habeas 
corpus  literally,  requiring  him  to  produce  Mr. 
Davis  before  the  Richmond  court. 

The    Trial  of  Mr.   Jefferson  Davis,   Rich 
mond,  December  3,  1867. 

In  the  United  States  Court,  Chief-Justice 
Chase  on  the  bench,  the  argument  was  com- 


VISIT  TO  NEW  ORLEANS.  791 

menced  on  the  motion  to  quash  the  indictment 
against  Jefferson  Davis. 

Robert  Ould,  counsel  for  Mr.  Davis,  ar 
gued  that  the  fourteenth  amendment  pun 
ished  Mr.  Davis  by  disfranchisement,  and  this 
punishment  was  chosen  by  the  voice  of  the 
American  people  as  a  merciful  substitute  for 
the  penalties  of  death  and  confiscation  con 
tained  in  the  Constitution  of  the  United 
States  ;  that  the  punishment  of  Mr.  Davis 
commenced  upon  the  date  of  the  adoption  of 
the  fourteenth  article,  and  he  therefore  could 
not  now  be  punished  in  any  other  way;  that 
the  latest  expression  of  the  will  of  the  people, 
in  their  Constitution,  was  the  law,  and  re 
pealed  all  former  provision  made  for  those 
who  engaged  in  rebellion  ;  that  the  fourteenth 
article  was  that  latest  expression,  intended 
expressly  for  and  covering  the  cases  of  all 
engaged  in  the  late  rebellion  ;  and  that  no 
man  could  be  punished  twice  for  the  same 
offence. 

R.  H.  Dana,  Esq.,  counsel  for  the  United 
States,  said  that  Mr.  Quid's  proposition  was, 
in  the  nature  of  things,  entirely  new,  and  was 
unexpected  to  the  Government  counsel,  and 
he  expected  also  to  the  court. 

Chief-Justice  Chase  said  the  argument  of 
counsel  was  not  unexpected  to  the  court, 
it  having  supposed,  after  the  announcement 


fo$  JEFFERSON  DA  tf/£ 

of  this  motion  to  quash,  that  it  was  based  on 
the  fourteenth  article,  that  this  line  of  argu 
ment  would  be  pursued. 

Time  was  given  the  Government  counsel 
to  confer,  and  the  Court  took  a  recess  at  noon. 

After  reassembling,  Governor  H.  H.  Wells 
and  District  Attorney  Beach  for  the  Govern 
ment,  replied,  contending  that  the  fourteenth 
amendment  merely  created  a  disability,  and 
not  a  penalty,  which  is  the  subject  of  judicial 
sentence,  and  was  not  inconsistent  with  the  act 
against  treason.  The  amendment  was  per 
manent  and  prospective,  and  could  not  be 
reasonably  construed  to  repeal  existing  pun 
ishments  for  past  and  future  treasons.  The 
Court  then  adjourned.  Dana  closes  to-mor 
row  for  the  Government,  and  O'Conor  for 
Mr.  Davis. 

Mr.  Charles  O'Conor  said  : 

"  If  the  Confederate  Government  had 
raised  the  black  flag,  and  had  not  given 
quarter,  there  would  have  been  no  objection 
to  resorting  to  extreme  measures,  and  to 
executing  the  leaders  and  commander-in-chief. 
He  referred  to  the  case  of  Wirz,  who  had 
been  tried  and  executed  for  alleged  inhuman 
ity  to  prisoners.  It  was  a  matter  of  notoriety 
that  civil  war  existed,  and  that  Jefferson 
Davis  was  the  head  and  front  of  it.  What, 
then,  is  the  fact  to  be  put  on  trial  ?  It  would 


TO  NEW  ORLEANS.  ^93 

be  impossible  to  find  an  impartial  jury  to 
try  the  case,  if  it  were  put  on  trial.  A  con 
viction  of  Jefferson  Davis  could  only  be  pro 
cured  by  a  course  so  ignominious  as  packing 
a  jury. 

"  The  war  was  over,  and  the  Government 
had  in  its  hands  half  a  dozen  rebel  belliger 
ents,  and  it  was  ashamed  to  put  them  on  trial. 
What  was  the  mean  office  assigned  to  the 
judiciary  in  this  matter  ?  It  was  to  require  it 
to  get  a  jury  of  twelve  men  to  find  a  verdict 
of  guilty  against  them.  He  called  the  atten 
tion  of  the  court  to  the  sixth  amendment  of 
the  Constitution,  which  said,  '  the  accused  shall 
enjoy  a  speedy  trial  by  an  impartial  jury,  in 
the  vicinity  where  the  crime  was  alleged  to 
have  been  committed/ 

"  He  referred  to  the  execution  of  the  parties 
tried  for  treason  in  England  after  the  war  in 
1746,  where  the  accused  were  carried  to  a 
distance  from  their  homes  and  tried  by  a  jury 
of  strangers,  and  said  it  was  with  a  knowl 
edge  of  these  atrocities  fresh  in  their  minds 
that  our  ancestors  framed  the  constitutional 
provision  quoted.  They  did  not  forbid  in 
dictments  for  treason  in  so  many  words,  but 
they  rendered  them  utterly  impossible.  In 
framing  that  Constitution  they  never  intended 
that  a  territorial  civil  war  should  be  followed 
by  indictments  for  treason.  In  the  view  he 


794  JEFFERSON  DAVIS. 

had  presented  he  came  back  to  the  conclusion 
with  which  he  started,  that  the  third  section 
was  wise,  just,  and  politic.  He  referred  to 
the  amnesty  of  Charles  II.,  which  was  not  an 
act  of  amnesty,  but  one  of  oblivion." 

After  hearing  the  argument  the  Court 
stood :  For  quashing  the  indictment,  Chief- 
Justice  Chase  ;  against  it,  John  C.  Under 
wood.  The  division  was  certified  to  the 
Supreme  Court,  that  the  question  may  be  con 
sidered  and  decided  by  it. 

We  left  Fortress  Monroe  on  Saturday 
morning,  May  4th,  and  at  half-past  five  o'clock 
in  the  afternoon  the  steamer  reached  the 
wharf  at  Richmond.  Mr.  Davis  said  to  me 
on  the  way,  "  I  feel  like  an  unhappy  ghost 
visiting  this  much  beloved  city." 

A  great  concourse  of  people  had  assembled. 
From  the  wharf  to  the  Spottswood  Hotel  there 
was  a  sea  of  heads — room  had  to  be  made  by 
the  mounted  police  for  the  carriages.  The 
windows  were  crowded,  and  even  on  to  the 
roofs  people  had  climbed.  Every  head  was 
bared.  The  ladies  were  shedding  tears, 
many  of  them.  Mr.  James  Lyons  and  his 
beautiful  wife  had  come  for  me,  and  Mr.  Davis 
accompanied  General  Burton.  When  he 
reached  the  Spottswood  Hotel,  where  rooms 
had  been  provided  for  us,  the  crowd  opened 
and  the  beloved  prisoner  walked  through  ; 


VISIT  TO  NEW  ORLEANS.  795 

the  people  stood  uncovered  for  at  least  a  mile 
up  and  down  Main  Street.  As  he  passed, 
one  and  another  put  out  a  hand  and  lightly 
touched  his  coat.  As  I  left  the  carriage  a 
low  voice  said  :  "  Hats  off,  Virginians,"  and 
again  every  head  was  bared.  This  noble 
sympathy  and  clinging  affection  repaid  us  for 
many  moments  of  bitter  anguish.  When  Mr. 
Davis  was  released,  one  gentleman  jumped 
up  on  the  box  and  drove  the  carriage  which 
brought  him  back  to  the  hotel,  and  other 
gentlemen  ran  after  him  and  shouted  them 
selves  hoarse.  Our  people  poured  into  the 
hotel  in  a  steady  stream  to  congratulate,  and 
many  embraced  him.  Before  our  dear  pastor, 
Mr.  Minnegerode,  left  us,  we  united  in  a  pri 
vate  thanksgiving  to  Almighty  God,  who 
had  delivered  Mr.  Davis  safely  out  of  all  the 
pitfalls  set  for  his  feet.  We  thought  it  best 
for  us  to  leave  Richmond  that  night  and  take 
the  steamer  to  New  York.  When  we  reached 
the  boat  we  bade  an  affectionate  farewell  to 
General  Burton  and  to  Captain  Brewerton, 
with  both  of  whom  we  were  loath  to  part,  and 
sailed  for  New  York,  reprieved,  but  not  free. 


CHAPTER    LXXIV. 

AFTER   RELEASE   IN   1867,    TO    1870. 

WHEN  Mr.  Davis  was  released,  we  were 
pecuniarily  prostrate,  our  plantations  had  been 
laid  waste  and  seized.  The  little  money  we 
had,  had  been  sent  by  the  Southern  cities  to 
me  for  my  maintenance,  and  to  give  him  com 
forts  in  prison.  Poor  in  purse  but  moderate 
in  our  wants,  we  turned  our  faces  to  the  world 
and  cast  about  for  a  way  to  maintain  our  little 
children,  four  in  number,  Margaret,  Jefferson, 
William,  and  Varina. 

Mr.  Davis's  fate  hung  upon  the  action  of 
the  United  States  Courts  ;  we  knew  that  one 
effort  had  been  made  to  suborn  a  witness,*  but 
he  was  fortunately  a  Confederate,  and  died  in 
preference  to  the  infamy.  My  brothers  were 
unable  to  trust  themselves  in  the  country  ; 
Becket  on  account  of  the  Sutnter  and  Alaba 
ma,  and  Jefferson,  whose  causeless  imprison 
ment  had  for  a  time  invalided  him.  We  had 
little,  and  my  husband's  health  was  apparently 


*  The  unhappy  and  innocent  victim  of  sectional  rancor,  Captain 
Wirz. 


AFTER  RELEASE  IN  1867.  797 

hopelessly  gone.  His  emaciation  was  very 
great,  and  long  imprisonment  had  left  him 
with  a  lassitude  very  noticeable  to  those  do 
mesticated  with  him. 

As  soon  as  practicable  we  proceeded  to 
Canada  to  rejoin  our  children,  who  had 
been  under  the  care  of  my  strong-hearted  old 
mother  and  young  sister.  Great  was  the  joy 
of  our  reunion,  but  the  motion  and  life  about 
us  drove  my  husband  wild  with  nervousness  ; 
he  said  the  voices  of  people  sounded  like  trum 
pets  in  his  ears.  He  and  my  mother  sat  to 
gether  in  loving  accord  and  talked  of  old 
times,  and  the  noisy  ones  remained  with  me ; 
but  like  Casper  Hauser,  long  restriction  had 
stiffened  and  impaired  my  powers,  I,  could 
not  think  clearly  or  act  promptly,  difficulties 
seemed  mountain  high,  the  trees  and  flowers 
sheltered  and  bloomed  for  others,  I  knew  they 
were  fair,  but  they  were  not  for  me  or  mine. 
Our  children,  except  the  babies  William  and 
Varina,  were  at  school  in  Montreal,  and  we 
concluded  to  remain  there  for  the  summer. 

After  Mr.  Davis  became  somewhat  strong 
er  he  went  to  Niagara  and  Toronto,  to  visit 
Mr.  James  M.  Mason,  and  a  number  of  other 
Confederates  who  had  not  yet  returned  home, 
and  with  cheerful  intercourse  among  friends 
he  slowly  improved. 

His  friends  desired  to  know  something  of 


798  JEFFERSON  DAVIS. 

his  life  in  prison,  but  he  was  always  disin 
clined  to  speak  of  injuries  inflicted  upon  him 
self,  and  had  a  nervous  horror  of  appearing 
to  be  a  victim.  Once,  after  a  man  had  an 
noyed  him  dreadfully  with  questions  about 
his  imprisonment,  he  said,  "  I  imagine  there 
are  no  quidnuncs  in  heaven,  else  Lazarus 
must  have  envied  Dives  the  alienation  of  his 
companions  below." 

He  felt  the  pressing  need  there  was,  while 
the  events  were  fresh  in  his  mind,  to  write  a 
history  of  the  Confederacy,  and  I  thought  my 
desire  to  assist  him  would  overcome  any  pa 
triotic  memory.  Mr.  Davis  sent  for  the  let 
ter  and  message  books,  .which  had  been  se 
cretly  taken  from  their  place  of  concealment, 
sent  to  Canada  in  the  trunk  of  our  sister,  and 
deposited  in  the  Bank  of  Montreal.  We 
looked  over  them  to  mark,  for  copying,  such 
of  the  contents  as  would  be  of  use,  and  I 
was  to  copy  and  arrange  them  by  dates.  We 
came  very  soon  upon  this  telegram. 

"DANVILLE,  April  9,  1865. 

"  GENERAL  R.  E.  LEE  :  You  will  realize  the 
reluctance  I  feel  to  leave  the  soil  of  Virginia, 
and  appreciate  my  anxiety  to  win  success 
north  of  the  Roanoke.  ...  I  hope  soon 
to  hear  from  you  at  this  point,  where  offices 
have  been  opened  to  keep  up  the  current  busi- 


AFTER   RELEASE  IN   1867.  799 

ness,  until  more  definite  knowledge  would 
enable  us  to  form  more  definite  plans.  May 
God  sustain  and  guide  you. 

"  JEFFERSON   DAVIS." 

All  the  anguish  of  that  last  great  struggle 
came  over  us,  we  saw  our  gaunt,  half-clothed, 
and  half-starved  men  stand  vibrating  with 
courage  to  their  finger-tips,  their  thin  ranks  a 
wall  of  fire  about  their  homes ;  we  saw  them 
mowed  down  by  a  countless  host  of  enemies, 
overcome,  broken  in  health  and  fortune,  mov 
ing  along  the  highways  to  their  desolated 
homes,  sustained  only  by  the  memory  of  hav 
ing  vindicated  their  honor.  He  walked  up 
and  down  distractedly,  and  then  said,  "  Let 
us  put  them  by  for  awhile,  I  cannot  speak  of 
my  dead  so  soon." 

Thus  the  history  was  deferred  from  year 
to  year,  to  the  day  when  greater  calmness 
should  enable  him  dispassionately  to  write  the 
record  of  our  people's  glory. 

One  by  one  my  brothers  and  sisters  joined 
us  in  Montreal,  and  our  mother  rejoiced  in 
having  her  children  once  more  together.  Her 
health  had  long  been  precarious,  and  after 
some  months,  much  to  Mr.  Davis's  regret,  she 
went  to  a  Southern  friend  in  Bennington,  Vt., 
for  a  visit. 

In  the  meantime  we  had  moved  to  Lenox- 


8oo  JEFFERSON  DAVIS. 

ville,  to  be  near  Bishop's  College  for  our  little 
boys,  as  there  was  a  good  dame  school  at 
tached.  We  were  fairly  comfortable  at  the 
hotel,  notwithstanding  that  the  servants  about 
the  table  invariably  condensed  the  menu  of 
our  good  plain  fare  into  the  invitation,  "  Beef 
or  beans  ? " 

My  mother  was  seized  with  a  severe  illness 
in  Bennington.  I  went  there  to  bring  her 
almost  in  extremis  as  far  as  Montreal,  and  in 
Bennington  had  additional  proof  of  how  far 
party  and  sectional  rancor  could  carry  peo 
ple,  and  how  pitiless  they  become.  She  was 
old,  exceptionally  weak,  could  not  rally,  and 
died  at  the  house  of  Mr.  John  Lovell,  whose 
family  gave  us  every  care  and  assistance  that 
friendship  could  render. 

In  our  mother  Mr.  Davis  lost  his  dearest 
friend,  and  "as  much  of  virtue  as  could  die" 
perished  with  her.  He  mourned  sincerely, 
and  the  sense  of  our  loss  deepened  our 
gloom,  but  no  despairing  word  was  uttered 
by  him,  he  looked  forward  hopefully  to  his 
vindication  by  a  fair  trial,  and  longed  for  the 
time  to  be  set. 

In  the  autumn  of  1867  Mr.  O'Conor,  after 
incessant  efforts,  aided  by  men  of  all  parties, 
succeeded  in  getting  a  time  appointed  for  the 
decision  of  Mr.  Davis's  case,  either  for  trial 
or  a  nolle  prosequi,  but  both  would  have 


AFTER   RELEASE  IN   1867.  80 1 

preferred  the  former  as  a  test  question.  As 
winter  drew  on  Mr.  Davis  was  summoned  to 
Richmond,  but  the  nolle  prosequi  was  filed. 

It  was  a  somewhat  inglorious  sequel  to  the 
threats  of  the  United  States  Government  "to 
make  treason  odious."  A  man  who  asked 
only  a  fair  trial  on  the  merits  of  his  case,  had 
been  held  on  an  accusation  of  treason  and  as 
sassination,  in  close  confinement,  with  circum 
stances  of  unnecessary  torture,  for  a  year  and 
a  half,  and  constrained  to  remain  in  Fortress 
Monroe  for  two  years,  to  the  injury  of  his 
health  and  the  total  destruction  of  his  inter 
ests,  not  to  dwell  upon  the  separation  from  his 
family  and  home.  He  was  denied  a  trial,  while 
his  captors  vaunted  their  "  clemency  "  in  not 
executing"  their  victim.  These  accusations 
were  either  true  or  false.  He  asked  neither 
indulgence  nor  pardon,  but  urged  a  speedy 
trial,  constantly  expressing  his  ardent  desire 
to  meet  it.  He  could  not  obtain  one — yet  the 
accusation  of  complicity  in  assassination  was 
never  withdrawn,  and  the  epithet  of  "  traitor  " 
was  hurled  at  his  head  by  every  so-called 
orator,  patriot,  or  petty  penny-a-liner  in  the 
North. 

His  deeds  had  not  been  done  in  a  corner, 
he  had  openly  avowed  his  principles  before 
leaving  the  United  States  Senate.  If  he  was 
the  arch-conspirator  who  inspired  and  com- 

VOL.  II.— 51 


802     .  JEFFERSON  DAVIS. 

pelled  the  act  of  treason,  why  was  he  not  ar 
rested  then  and  there,  before  he  had  accom 
plished  the  ruin  of  the  Southern  States  and 
cost  them  and  the  United  States  millions  of 
money  and  thousands  of  valuable  and  inno 
cent  lives  ?  If,  on  the  contrary,  he  was  un 
willingly  borne  to  the  position  of  chief  Execu 
tive  of  eight  millions  of  people  of  the  South, 
who  knew  their  rights  and  thought  it  incum 
bent  upon  them  to  maintain  them,  why  was 
he,  who  was  one  of  the  last  to  yield  to  the 
dread  necessity  of  strife,  held  more  account 
able  than  those  whom  he  had  tried  to  re 
strain  ? 

Does  anyone  believe  that  if  a  warrant  could 
have  been  found  in  the  Constitution  for  the 
epithet  of  traitor,  and  if  the  fear  of  his  entire 
justification  by  its  provisions  had  not  pre 
vailed,  that  any  feeling  of  mercy  or  pity  would 
have  saved  the  prisoner  from  execution,  and 
his  name  from  being  one  universally  execrated 
both  North  and  South  ?  Instead,  he  was  left 
to  follow  his  course  of  dignified  seclusion,  "  by 
all  his  country's  honors  blessed,"  among  his 
own  people,  by  whom,  as  well  as  by  many  at 
the  North,  he  was  beloved  as  much  as  he  was 
esteemed.  Might  prevailed,  but  could  not 
wrest  from  us  the  right  of  secession,  or  law 
fully  punish  its  assertion.  "  Dormitur  ali- 
quando  jus  moritur  nunquam." 


AFTER   RELEASE  IN  1867.  803 

The  Canadian  winter  proved  too  severe  for 
Mr.  Davis's  enfeebled  frame,  and  he  was  ad 
vised  to  spend  it  in  the  South.  After  a  pleas 
ant  visit  to  our  dear  friends,  Mr.  Charles 
Howard's  family,  in  Baltimore,  whose  four 
brave  sons  had  fought  on  the  Confederate 
side  with  courage  worthy  of  their  ancestors, 
we  sailed  for  New  Orleans  via  Havana.  We 
reached  Havana  just  before  Christmas,  and  in 
time  to  see  the  flower-wreathed  arches  which 
had  been  erected  in  honor  of  the  new  Captain- 
General,  who  had  been  installed  the  day  before. 

There  we  were  warmly  welcomed  by  Mrs. 
Sarah  Brewer.  She  was  a  Southern  woman 
of  a  respectable  family,  who  owned  and  had 
successfully  kept  a  hotel  there  for  years.  Her 
liberality  and  kind  offices  to  the  Confederates 
had  been  the  theme  of  many  panegyrics  by 
them,  and  we  found  her  kindness  had  not  been 
exaggerated. 

It  seemed  strange  to  give  our  luggage  in 
charge  of  Don  Juan,  a  quiet  little  old  Cuban, 
very  unlike  Lord  Byron's  hero.  The  bright- 
colored  houses  which  presented  fa£ades  of 
green,  pink,  and  blue,  before  which  Moro 
Castle  stood  guard  and  glowed  a  soft  rose 
color,  seemed  very  strange,  but  were  after  a 
little  while  generally  in  harmony  with  the  bril 
liant  tropical  foliage  and  flowers  that  peeped 
out  everywhere  throughout  the  city. 


804  JEFFERSON  DAVIS. 

After  a  week  spent  there,  during  which  we 
received  many  visits  from  Spanish  gentlemen 
and  ladies,  who  dumbly  testified  their  good-will, 
we  continued  our  journey  to  New  Orleans. 

The  warmth  of  the  welcome  here  no  words 
can  describe.  One  man  finding  that  he  could 
not  penetrate  into  the  St.  Charles  Hotel  from 
below,  climbed  up  the  pillar  that  supported 
the  balcony  on  which  Mr.  Davis  stood,  and 
seized  him  in  his  arms,  the  tears  pouring  over 
his  face.  As  we  proceeded  to  visit  our  family 
the  most  cordial  manifestations  of  good  feel 
ing  were  made  everywhere  on  the  journey. 
One  old  Methodist  minister  stretched  out  his 
arms  to  Mr.  Davis,  and  looking  up  reverently, 
said  :  "  Now,  Lord,  let  Thy  servant  depart  in 
peace,  since  I  have  seen  his  salvation." 

We  found  our  property  all  destroyed,  our 
friends  impoverished,  and  our  old  brother  very 
feeble,  but  cheery.  As  many  of  our  negroes 
as  could,  came  to  see  us,  and  Mr.  Davis  paid 
a  few  hours'  visit  to  the  rest  at  Brierfield  and 
Hurricane,  witnessed  the  destruction  the  ene 
my  had  worked,  which  had  blotted  out  the 
labors  of  his  life,  and  after  a  few  weeks  we 
returned  to  Lenoxville.  Perhaps  it  was  owing 
to  the  cumulative  sorrow  over  the  changes 
wrought  in  his  life,  but  this  journey  did  not 
work  the  expected  improvement  in  his  health, 
and  his  emaciation  did  not  decrease.  His 


AFTER  RELEASE  IN  1867.  805 

physician  feared  entire  nervous  prostration 
would  supervene.  Our  means  were  narrow, 
and  we  could  not  travel  with  our  large  family 
of  little  children  without  incurring  great  ex 
pense,  and  a  general  tour  through  Europe 
was  under  the  circumstances  impracticable. 
While  vexed  by  every  anxiety  that  could  tor 
ture  us,  in  coming  down  a  long  flight  of  steps 
with  baby  Winnie  in  .his  arms,  Mr.  Davis  fell 
from  the  top  to  the  bottom,  breaking  three  of 
his  ribs.  His  first  question  after  he'came  out 
of  the  fainting  fit  into  which  he  sank,  was  for 
the  baby,  and  the  next  was  a  request  that  I 
should  not  see  him  die.  He  lay  on  the  verge 
of  eternity  for  many  days,  and  then  there  was 
no  question  of  the  proper  course  for  us.  Our 
physician  insisted  on  an  entire  change  of  cli 
mate  and  scene,  and  we  decided  to  join  our 
friends,  the  Rawsons,  who  were  "going 
home  "  from  Canada. 

While  in  Lenoxville,  we  received  notice 
that  the  father  of  a  Federal  spy  who  had  been 
executed,  had  announced  his  intention  of  kill 
ing  Mr.  Davis.  We  remembered  that  "  threat 
ened  men  live  long,"  and  thought  no  more 
about  it  until  an  old  man  called  to  inquire 
about  the  spy,  when  my  husband  said,  with  a 
smile,  "  Then  you  are  the  man  who  has  come 
to  assassinate  me  ?  "  But  the  creature  dis 
claimed  volubly,  and  then  proceeded  to  un- 


806  JEFFERSOA?  DAVIS. 

fold  his  business.  His  object  was  to  get  Mr. 
Davis  to  certify  that  it  was  the  son  of  our  in 
glorious  assassin  who  had  been  hanged,  and 
thus  to  secure  to  him  "a.  nice,  comfortable 
pension  that  will  about  let  me  out  of  work." 
When  assured  that  the  spy  was  a  middle-aged 
man,  he  could  not  reconcile  himself  to  his 
son's  dereliction  from  duty  in  not  being  caught 
and  hanged  ;  but,  said  he,  "  If  you  did  not 
look  at  him  after  he  was  dead,  you  might  say 
you  thought  it  was  him  ;  only  think  of  the 
comfort  to  me."  War  surely  lowers  the 
moral  standard  of  those  who  engage  in 
it,  and  "  hardens  a'  within  and  petrifies  the 
feeling." 

We  sailed  from  Quebec  with  our  friends, 
who  assisted  Mr.  Davis  to  the  ship,  as  he  was 
still  very  weak  from  his  accident.  Our  Eng 
lish  friend  who  felt  great  sympathy  with  our 
little  Jeff  in  his  extreme  sea-sickness,  gave  him 
some  ginger-beer,  from  which  the  child  soon 
felt  better.  When  we  had  all  recovered  some 
what  and  were  on  deck,  the  nine-year  old  boy 
walked  up  to  Mr.  Rawson,  and  taking  off  his 
little  cap,  said,  with  a  courteous  bow,  "  I  have 
to  thank  you,  sir,  for  saving  my  life  by  ginger- 
beer."  The  laughter  this  acknowledgment 
provoked  served  not  at  all  to  discourage  the 
boy,  his  sense  of  obligation  oppressed  him 
until  he  had  offered  thanks  to  his  preserver. 


AFTER  RELEASE  IN  1867.  807 

When  Ireland  and  the  ivy-covered  ruin  of 
Lord  Lovell's  castle  met  our  eyes,  we  seemed 
to  have  received  a  greeting  from  the  peaceful 
past  and  a  welcome  for  the  future.  On  our 
arrival  at  Liverpool,  the  foreign  land  did  not 
look  at  all  strange  to  us  ;  perhaps  the  atavism 
of  memories  was  unconsciously  felt,  and  the 
welcoming  cheers  of  the  people  on  the  docks 
gave  Mr.  Davis  a  comfortable  sense  of  Anglo- 
Saxon  sympathy. 

Much  hospitality  was  tendered  us  by  our 
own  dear  people  there,  and  by  the  English 
residents,  and  had  it  been  possible  for  us  to 
accept  the  many  invitations  extended  to  us, 
we  should  have  passed  many  happy  hours 
among  our  transatlantic  friends ;  but  I  had 
young  children,  and  would  not  leave  or  impose 
them  upon  others  who  felt  less  interest  in 
them  ;  then  again  we  represented  no  country, 
and  general  visiting  might  have  brought  about 
unpleasant  contretemps.  The  Northern  peo 
ple  were  then,  as  now,  the  most  numerous 
class  of  travellers  ;  to  them  might  be  applied 
the  commentary  on  the  Scotch,  "  Had  Cain 
been  a  Scot,  God  had  altered  his  doom,  not 
forced  him  to  wander  but  kept  him  at  home." 
It  was  quiet  we  sought,  and  I  found  it  at  Llan- 
dudno,  and  Mr.  Davis  accepted  an  invitation 
from  Lord  Shrewsbury  to  visit  him  at  Alton 
Towers,  while  with  our  dear  friends  the  Nor- 


8o8  JEFFERSO.V  DAVIS. 

man  Walkers  and  the  Westfeldts,  I  remained 
in  Wales. 

The  quiet  of  my  outing  was  broken  by 
my  little  William  being  very  ill  with  typhoid 
fever  at  Waterloo,  where  he  and  his  brother 
were  at  school,  and  then  I  learned  to  love 
the  English  people  and  acquired  a  sense  of 
home  among  them.  Every  kindness  that 
good  hearts  and  sound  heads  could  devise 
was  showered  upon  us  during  our  long  and 
dreary  period  of  nursing  and  hopelessness. 
It  is  not  too  late  to  express  sincere  gratitude, 
for  we  never  forgot  to  be  thankful  to  our  Eng 
lish  cousins.  The  Confederates  everywhere 
tried  to  serve  us,  and  from  that  time  we  did 
not  feel  like  strangers  in  a  foreign  country. 

We  lived  in  Leamington  during  the  hunting 
season,  and  everywhere  Mr.  Davis  attracted 
all  who  saw  him.  Many  civilities  were  offered 
us  there,  and  especially  by  Lord  and  Lady 
Leigh,  of  Stoneleigh  Abbey.  Under  the  in 
fluence  of  new  scenes  and  cheerful  company 
his  health  began  to  improve  slowly,  and  by 
the  winter,  when  we  removed  to  London,  he 
began  to  look  less  like  a  skeleton,  and  of  his 
own  choice  to  walk  about  and  take  more  in 
terest  in  affairs  around  him.  Occasionally  he 
went  to  the  houses  of  Parliament,  where  he 
received  many  civilities.  We  gradually  be 
came  more  cheerful,  and  our  medical  man,  in 


AFTER   RELEASE  IN   1867.  809 

whom  we  found  a  friend,  hoped  that  the  walls 
of  his  heart  would  become  normal  again. 

We  went  to  Paris  for  a  few  weeks,  and 
there  the  Emperor  was  attentive  in  a  manner. 
He  sent  one  of  his  staff  to  offer  an  audience 
to  Mr.  Davis,  and  the  Empress  kindly  ex 
pressed  her  willingness  to  receive  me.  But 
Mr.  Davis  felt  that  the  Emperor  had  not  been 
sincere  with  our  government.  He  did  not 
wish  to  say  anything  uncivil,  and  could  not 
meet  him  with  the  cordiality  his  Majesty's 
kindness  warranted  ;  but  reviews  were  held  in 
his  ho'nor,  and  every  attention  was  shown  to 
him  by  the  government.  We  had  cards  to 
the  chapel,  and  there  saw  the  Empress  with 
the  Emperor  at  mass,  and  kneeling  by  them 
was  their  beautiful  boy,  the  little  Prince  Impe 
rial.  He  was  so  like  our  own  little  William  that 
we  followed  his  course  with  interest,  until,  in 
the  dawn  of  his  discrowned  manhood,  he  laid 
down  his  life  in  Africa,  for  a  foreign  country. 

In  Paris  we  had  a  happy  reunion  with  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  Slidell,  with  the  Honorable  Ambrose 
Dudley  Mann,  and  others  we  had  known,  and 
spent  a  few  weeks  happily  there,  but  pre 
ferred  to  remain  in  London  for  several  rea 
sons.  Even  then  the  shadow  of  the  bloody 
drama  that  was  to  end  the  dynasty  of  the 
Bonapartes  hung  over  Paris,  and  the  blue 
blouses  talked  treason  in  the  Musee  de  Na- 


8 ro  JEFFERSON  DAVIS. 

poleon,   and   hissed  out   between  their  teeth 
abuse  of  the  army  officers  as  they  passed. 

On  our  return  to  London  we  saw  Mr.  Ben 
jamin  quite  often,  and  always  with  increas 
ing  pleasure.  He  had  now  become  Queen's 
Counsellor,  and  was  very  successful.  He  ap 
peared  happier  than  I  had  hitherto  seen  him, 
but  though  he  gave  Mr.  Davis  one  long 
talk  about  Confederate  matters,  after  that  he 
seemed  averse  to  speaking  of  them.  He  was 
too  busy  to  spend  much  time  anywhere,  but 
was  sincerely  cordial  and  always  entertaining 
and  cheery.  His  success  at  the  English  bar 
was  exceptional,  but  did  not  astonish  us.  In 
speaking  of  his  grief  over  our  defeat,  he  said 
that  his  power  of  dismissing  any  painful  mem 
ory  had  served  him  well  after  the  fall  of  the 
Confederacy. 

Soon  after  our  return  from  Paris,  our  skil 
ful  and  wise  physician,  Dr.  Maurice  Davis, 
discovered  that  Mr.  Davis's  heart  trouble  had 
not  decreased,  and  he  ordered  him  up  to  Scot 
land,  whither  Dr.  Mackay,  the  poet,  kindly 
consented  to  accompany  him. 

While  visiting  our  friends,  the  Abingers, 
and  several  gentlemen  whose  acquaintance 
he  made  in  Scotland,  and  during  a  more  pro 
tracted  visit  to  his  friend,  James  Smith,  of 
Glasgow,  who  had  given  a  fine  battery  to  the 
Confederates,  and  whose  brother  fell  gallantly 


AFTER  RELEASE  IN  1867.  8n 

fighting-  in  the  Confederacy,  he  recovered  his 
strength  partially,  but  never  again  was  ro 
bust.  His  letters  from  Scotland  were  charm 
ing.  I  regret  that  space  is  lacking  to  give 
some  of  them. 

In  the  course  of  the  autumn  Mr.  Davis  was 
offered  the  presidency  of  a  life  insurance  com 
pany  and  though  something  else  would  have 
been  preferable  to  him,  our  needs  rendered 
him  unable  to  be  a  chooser,  and  he  left  me 
in  London  and  sailed  for  America.  After  re 
maining  some  months  in  Memphis,  where  he 
was  received  in  the  most  enthusiastic  man 
ner,  Mr. Davis  came  to  London  for  me,  to  set 
up  our  new  home  in  Memphis.  On  the  eve 
of  our  departure  he  heard  by  cable  of  the 
death  of  his  brother,  Joseph  E.  Davis,  and 
his  grief  was  great. 

After  a  smooth  voyage  we  reached  Mem 
phis,  having  left  our  two  sons  Jefferson  and 
William  at  school  near  Emmorton,  Md.,  with 
our  well-beloved  friend,  the  Reverend  W. 
Brand,  and  our  daughter  Margaret  with  a 
governess  in  Liverpool,  at  the  house  of  my 
sister  and  adopted  daughter,  Madame  Stoe'ss, 
so  baby  Winnie  was  the  only  child  with  us. 

The  town  looked  very  small  after  London, 
and  it  was  some  time  before  the  blessed 
home  air  blew  upon  the  weary  wanderers  and 
brought  with  it  rest.  At  that  time  there  were 


812  JEFFERSON  DAVIS. 

many  things  to  regret  in  the  administration  of 
the  city.  The  drainage  was  bad,  and  the  po 
lice  defective,  but  we  learned  to  love  the  peo 
ple  and  they  loved  us,  and  the  memory  of 
their  cordiality,  their  sincerity,  and  ready  sym 
pathy  will  "  hang  round  my  heart  forever/1 

There  are  so  many  men  there  liberal  with 
out  ostentation,  and  there  is  so  much  origin 
ality,  talent,  and  enterprise  among  them,  and 
they  are  so  full  of  the  living  interests  of  the 
present  that,  once  there  long  enough  to  know 
the  people,  it  is  rarely  that  another  home  is 
desired,  and  the  very  name  brings  to  us  a 
"  waking  certainty "  of  blessed  friendship 
which  cannot  suffer  a  change.  Memphis,  the 
splendid  Memphis  of  to-day,  is,  as  it  prom 
ised  to  be  then,  the  "progressive  city  of  the 
Southwest." 

There  the  citizens  offered  Mr.  Davis,  as  a 
gift,  the  handsomest  residence  to  be  procured. 
As  an  expression  of  their  good-will  the  offer 
was  acceptable ;  but  he  declined  the  house, 
preferring  to  support  himself. 

He  soon  mastered  the  mathematical  prob 
lems  of  life  insurance,  and  thought  he  would 
have  made  a  success  for  the  company  ;  but, 
upon  closer  examination,  he  discovered  that 
the  policies  had  been  issued  regardless  of  the 
risks  or  of  anything  but  numbers — the  per 
cent,  paid  on  renewals  was  enormous.  After 


AFTER   RELEASE  IN   1867.  813 

putting  everything  that  he  could  command  in 
to  the  stock  to  save  it,  the  company,  he 
found,  must  fail,  as  the  yellow  fever  made  the 
Southern  risks  alone  too  great  for  profit. 

He  went  North  to  sell  the  Carolina  to  a 
sound  Northern  company  that  would  save 
those  insured  in  that  company  ;  but  during  his 
absence  some  friends  more  affectionate  toward 
htm  than  considerate  of  those  who  insured, 
thinking  to  relieve  him  of  his  trouble  and  re 
sponsibility,  just  as  he  had  completed  his  ar 
rangement  to  transfer  it,  sold  the  Carolina  out 
to  another  company  in  Memphis.  He  was 
deeply  moved  by  the  loss  to  those  who  had 
insured  in  the  Carolina,  but  could  do  nothing 
but  submit,  and  it  was  rather  a  comforting 
memory  to  him  that  he  had  lost  heavily  by 
the  failure. 


CHAPTER    LXXV. 

REASONS    FOR    NOT     ASKING     PARDON.— MISSISSIPPI 
VALLEY    SOCIETY. 

IN  1874,  three  months  before  the  failure 
of  the  Carolina,  our  boy  William  Howell 
died  of  diphtheria.  All  that  sympathy  and 
kindness  could  do  was  tendered  to  us  to  al 
leviate  our  grief,  but  the  death  of  one  whose 
character,  talents,  and  personal  beauty  made 
the  joy  of  our  lives,  and  promised  to  justify 
the  hope  of  our  old  age,  was  a  blow  which 
must  leave  us  mourning  until  the  end.  The 
little  boy  used  to  go  and  sit  with  his  father  in 
his  office,  silent  and  observant  if  his  pen 
dropped,  or  he  wanted  anything,  and  often 
when  I  missed  him,  his  father  would  say, 
"  You  will  not  grudge  me  our  grave  little 
gentleman's  company  when  you  know  how  I 
enjoy  his  presence."  Now  we  had  but  one 
son  left,  Jefferson. 

Worn  with  sorrow,  but  undaunted  by  fail 
ure  and  heavy  pecuniary  loss,  Mr.  Davis 
looked  about  again  for  the  means  of  making 
a-livelihood.  His  health  was  far  from  good, 
and  the  people  of  Texas  invited  him  to  visit 


REASONS  FOR  NOT  ASKING  PARDON.      815 

them.  After  much  urging  he  went,  and  re 
ceived  a  royal  welcome  "  all  along  the  line." 
After  his  return,  these  dear  generous  people 
very  much  desired  to  give  him  a  tract  of  land 
and  stock  enough  to  furnish  and  cultivate  it, 
but  we  felt  unwilling  to  accept  so  much,  and 
the  gift  was  affectionately  declined. 

He  was  engaged  in  a  lawsuit  to  recover  the 
Brierfield  plantation,  which  had  passed  into 
other  hands  after  the  death  of  his  brother, 
and  hoped  to  live,  even  though  the  shrinkage 
in  values  would  necessitate  our  living  poorly, 
on  the  products  of  that  plantation.  While 
environed  by  these  difficulties,  Mr.  Davis's 
health,  which  had  been  steadily  declining,  be 
came  worse,  and  he  was  ordered  to  take  a 
long  sea  voyage.  He  sailed  from  New  Or 
leans  to  Liverpool,  and  from  there  went  to 
Paris  to  see  his  old  friend,  A.  Dudley  Mann, 
who  was  one  of  his  dearest  friends.  He  also 
saw  his  friends,  Lprd  Campbell  and  Beres- 
ford  Hope,  with  others  who  had  been  hos 
pitable  to  him  while  temporarily  a  resident  of 
England,  and  returned  after  three  months 
time,  much  improved  in  health  and  strength. 


CHAPTER    LXXVI. 

UNWILLINGNESS    TO    ASK     PARDON.— MISSISSIPPI 
ANXIOUS   TO   SEND    HIM   TO  THE    SENATE. 

THE  policy  of  reconstruction  devised  by  the 
victors  of  the  North,  was  that  the  men  of  the 
Confederacy  should  pursue  no  vocation  until 
a  pardon  had  been  asked  of  the  President  of 
the  United  States  and  granted  by  him.  Our 
men  considered  it  a  form  instituted  merely 
for  their  humiliation,  and  as  such  complied 
with  it  as  the  means  of  feeding  their  helpless 
families,  already  spent  with  the  hardships 
they  had  endured.  Necessitous  non  habet  legem 
is  a  maxim  acceded  to  by  mankind,  and  he  felt 
that  the  men  who  asked  pardon  did  it  for  a 
holy  and  legitimate  end. .  My  husband,  even 
in  his  letters  from  prison,  combated  the  idea 
of  our  people  expatriating  themselves,  and 
since  they  could  not  en  masse  move  out  of 
the  country,  and  the  pillar  of  cloud  compassed 
but  did  not  lead  them  by  day  or  night,  they 
must  do  the  only  thing  left  for  them,  try  to 
forget  in  toil  and  the  care  of  their  families  the 
misery  which  had  settled  over  them  and  their 
people. 


THE   OFFICE   OF  SENATOR    TENDERED.     817 

Throughout  all  this  period  Mr.  Davis  had 
endeavored  to  preserve  silence  about  every 
thing  political,  though  letters  came  by  hun 
dreds  asking  his  opinions  on  all  political  sub 
jects.  As  he  had  not  asked  pardon  for  an 
offence  he  had  not  committed,  he  was  dis 
franchised,  and  as  he  could  not  be  held 
responsible  for  acts  in  which  he  was  forbidden 
by  law  to  participate,  his  opinion,  if  given-, 
would  be  perfunctory.  He  therefore  either 
declined  to  answer  at  all,  or  gave  this  reason 
for  not  doing  so.  So  far,  however,  from  being 
wounded  by  his  disfranchisement,  he  felt 
rather  proud  that  Congress  had  testified  to 
the  steady  faith  he  had  kept  with  his  own 
people.  He  had  not  changed  his  beliefs  in 
the  least  degree,  and  had  it  been  necessary, 
he  would  have  taken  the  same  course  at  any 
time  of  his  life  when  his  people  had  called  him 
to  cleave  only  unto  them.  He  therefore  could 
not  honestly  express  the  contrition  he  did  not 
feel. 

So  to  the  end,  he  who  had  served  his 
country  in  tented  field,  and  in  the  halls  of 
legislation,  and  merited  and  received  the 
acclaim  of  soldiers  and  the  esteem  of  states 
men  and  legislators  throughout  the  United 
States,  kept  the  dignified  tenor  of  his  way,  un 
heeding  the  sectional  clamor  when  his  awn 
conscience  approved.  His  asking  for  pardon 
VOL.  II.— 52 


8 1 8  JEFFERSON  DA  VIS. 

as  the  leader  of  the  Confederacy  would  have 
been  more  significant  than  the  petition  of  one 
who  had  held  a  less  high  position,  and  he 
would  not  sacrifice  his  convictions  to  ex 
pediency,  even  in  seeming. 

The  people  of  Mississippi,  kind  and  trusting 
as  of  old  to  the  man  they  had  honored  with 
their  confidence,  wished  Mr.  Davis  to  allow 
his  name  to  be  used  for  the  Senate.  They 
said,  "The  franchise  is  yours  here,  and  the 
Congress  can  but  refuse  you  admission,  and 
your  exclusion  will  be  a  test  question."  Mr. 
Davis  responded,  "  I  remained  in  prison  two 
years  and  hoped  in  vain  for  a  trial,  and  now 
scenes  of  insult  and  violence,  producing  aliena 
tion  between  the  sections,  would  be  the  only 
result  of  attempting  another  test.  I  am  too 
old  to  serve  you  as  I  once  did,  and  too  much 
enfeebled  by  suffering  to  maintain  your 
cause.'* 


CHAPTER   LXXVII. 

THE     WRECK    OF    THE     PACIFIC.— THE    MISSISSIPPI 
VALLEY  SOCIETY. 

IN  1875  Mr.  Davis  began  to  feel  old  age 
coming  on  apace,  and  wrote  to  invite  Captain 
Jefferson  Davis  Howell,  then  captain  of  a 
passenger  steamer  on  the  Pacific  coast,  to 
come  to  us  and  ease  his  weary  shoulders  of 
their  burthen.  Our  brother  could  not  leave 
immediately,  but  bound  to  my  husband  by 
every  tender  tie,  he  promised  to  come  as  soon 
as  he  could.  Just  at  this  time  one  of  my 
husband's  crowning  joys  came  through  our 
brother,  and  "  sorrow's  crown  of  sorrows  '' 
settled  on  his  head  soon  thereafter  in  the 
death  of  our  well-beloved  young  hero,  and 
pride  in  him  and  bitter  grief  contended  in  Mr. 
Davis's  heart  as  long  as  he  lived. 

On  February  2Oth  Captain  Howell,  who 
was  temporarily  out  of  employment,  embarked 
on  the  Los  Angeles  with  a  number  of  pas 
sengers  for  Victoria.  The  evening  of  the 
23d,  during  a  stiff  gale,  the  machinery  of  the 
steamer  became  unmanageable,  and  the  ship 
commenced  drifting.  Seeing  all  the  danger, 


820  JEFFERSON  DAVIS. 

Captain  Howell  asked  for  volunteers  for  des 
perate  service,  to  relieve  the  ship.  The 
second  officer  and  four  men  stood  forth  and 
put  off  in  a  small  boat  under  his  command, 
and  after  two  days  and  nights  of  strenuous 
effort,  they  reached  Astoria,  procured  relief, 
and  saved  the  ship. 

The  passengers  passed  resolutions,  one  of 
which  was:  "Whereas  Captain  Jeff.  D.  Howell, 
by  noble  deeds  of  daring,  succeeded  in  reach 
ing  Astoria  after  we  had  supposed  he  had  lost 
his  own  life  in  the  vain  endeavor  to  save  us 
from  a  terrible  death,  we  return  our  thanks 
to  the  Giver  of  all  good  for  sparing  the  life  of 
our  noble  benefactor." 

One  who  was  present  told  Mr.  Davis,  years 
afterward,  of  the  enthusiasm  the  young  fellow 
created  in  his  breast  as  he  stepped  forward 
among  the  terror-stricken  crew,  calm  and  self- 

O  ' 

possessed,  and  called  for  volunteers  to  go  with 
him  to  death  for  the  sake  of  men  he  did  not 
know,  and  to  save  the  property  of  a  company 
which  had  causelessly  thrown  him  out  of 
employment  a  few  weeks  before. 

Attracted  by  his  daring,  he  was  taken  into 
the  service  of  the  Goodall  &  Nelsons  Steam 
ship  line  and  given  the  old  Pacific,  plying 
from  Seattle  to  San  Francisco,  with  the  hope 
of  commanding  a  fine  steamer  then  on  the 
stocks, 


THE    WRECK  OP   THE  PACIFIC.  82 1 

The  North  Pacific  coast  is  at  best  a  danger 
ous  one,  and  in  the  last  letter  written  before 
his  death  he  said  :  "  This  coast  is  dangerous, 
and  I  am  never  thoroughly  asleep  until  I 
reach  Seattle  and  leaving  there,  keep  the  same 
watch  to  San  Francisco  again.  I  have  not  felt 
robust  this  year,  and  in  fact  have  not  felt  the 
spring  of  youth  since  my  imprisonment." 

After  she  had  cleared  the  harbor  of  Seattle, 
Thursday,  November  4,  1875,  Captain  Howell 
went  to  sleep,  but  in  a  few  minutes  afterward 
a  sailing-vessel  came  too  near  the  Pacific,  and 
seeing  the  danger,  tacked  first  one  way  and 
then  another,  and  ran  into  the  Pacific,  wrecked 
her,  and  was  herself  wrecked  on  the  rocks 
further  on.  The  Pacific  had  three  hundred 
souls  on  board,  many  of  them  miners  and 
rough  men,  ladies,  children,  and  helpless 
people.  The  captain  kept  order,  placed  all 
his  passengers  and  crew  on  boats  and  rafts, 
coming  on  deck  stripped  to  his  under-clothes 
for  swimming,  and  called  to  his  mate  on  the 
raft,  "  Chief,  I  will  go  down  with  her,  after 
you  get  away  ;  look  around  for  me.  If  you 
cannot  see  me,  pray  for  me."  He  finally,  how 
ever,  gained  the  raft  in  company  with  an  old 
lady,  who  insisted  upon  clinging  to  him.  The 
exhaustion,  the  cold,  the  hunger  of  four  nights 
and  three  days  of  exposure,  did  not  daunt 
his  great  soul.  During  this  time  he  did  his 


822  JEFFERSON 

best  to  comfort  the  poor  dying  woman  at  his 
side,  uttering"  never  a  complaint  of  his  own 
suffering ;  but  his  strength  failed,  and  he  was 
swallowed  up  in  the  sea,  which  gave  his  body 
sepulture  and  freed  the  soul  that  had  so  long 
worshipped  his  Creator  in  spirit  and  in  truth. 
Upon  this  gallant  young  hero,  who  had  lived 
but  twenty-eight  years,  one  of  the  oldest 
captains  of  the  Pacific  Mail  S.  S.  Company, 
with  a  burst  of  tears,  delivered  this  simple 
eulogy  : 

"  Jeff  Howell  was  the  best  sailor  and  noblest 
gentleman  that  ever  walked  a  quarter-deck." 
Another  said,  "  The  commander  was  the  last  to 
leave  the  ship,  the  young,  noble,  and  chival 
rous  gentleman  upon  whose  life  and  charac 
ter  no  stain  and  no  reproach  had  ever  rested." 

I  make  no  apology  for  telling  his  story  here, 
for  it  was  written  even  to  the  hour  of  death 
upon  the  heart  of  his  brother  and  benefactor. 

Thus  was  torn  every  prop  from  the  old  age 
of  one  who  hac}  given  his  utmost  aid,  confi 
dence,  and  love  to  the  boy  over  whose  educa 
tion  he  had  presided  with  a  father's  care, 
and  in  whose  promise  he  had  lived  anew. 
Our  son  only  was  left  to  us  now. 

Sore-hearted,  rooted  up  from  the  labors  of 
his  life,  impoverished,  repenting  quickly  for 
his  sins  against  God,  and  conscious  of  wilfully 
wronging  no  man,  my  husband  sought  con- 


TffE    WRECK  OF    THE  PACIFIC.  823 

stant  occupation  to  still  his  grief;  but  to  his 
life's  end  our  brother  was  cited  as  his  model 
of  a  Christian  hero. 

The  prospect  of  directing  the  commerce  of 
the  South  American  States  to  New  Orleans 
had  always  been  a  cherished  hope  of  Mr. 
Davis,  and  now  he  turned  to  it  with  the  ex 
pectation  of  securing  this  object.  He  pre 
ferred  that  to  all  other  cities,  and  believed  its 
decadence  would  be  arrested  and  its  prosper 
ity  assured  by  the  great  trade  flowing  from 
her  wharves  over  the  whole  United  States. 
There  was  simultaneously  an  English  and  a 
Southern  company  organized,  called  the 
Mississippi  Valley  Society,  which  he  hoped 
would  co-operate  together,  and  the  inter 
change  of  commodities  and  products  would  be 
inaugurated  by  ships  built  in  England  and 
plying  between  New  Orleans  and  South 
American  ports,  until  the  channel  of  trade 
was  so  worn  that  it  would  inevitably  trend 
that  way.  The  defect  in  Mr.  Davis's  plan, 
however,  was  that  no  immediate  personal 
profits  inured  to  anyone,  and  an  impersonal 
interest  is  rarely  pushed  to  the  point  of 
success. 

In  1877,  immediately  after  the  marriage  of 
our  daughter  Margaret  to  Mr.  J.  A.  Hayes, 
he  went  to  England  to  confer  with  the 
English  company,  and  took  our  little  daughter 


&24  JEFFEltSON 

Winnie  and  me  with  him,  and  with  us  the 
child  of  a  dear  friend,  who  was  to  be  left  at 
school  in  Germany. 

The  hedge-rows  of  old  England  were 
pranked  out  in  their  spring  garments  of  pink 
May,  and  looked  very  lovely  to  us  after  our 
long  absence.  Though  Mr.  Davis  seemed 
much  better  in  health*  and  his  cheerfulness 
increased,  a  severe  illness  of  several  months 
and  the  unremitting  attention  he  paid  me, 
with  the  failure  of  his  project  of  forming  the 
company,  reduced  his  newly  acquired  health. 

Capital  is  too  timid  to  embark  in  any 
scheme  of  which  the  profits  are  at  the  end  of 
a  long  perspective.  The  ships  to  carry  the 
trade  were  not  promised  and  the  effort  failed. 
In  the  autumn  Mr.  Davis  returned  home  alone, 
as  I  was  too  ill  to  bear  the  journey  or  leave 
the  proximity  of  Dr.  Maurice  Davis,  of  Lon 
don,  our  kind  and  skilful  friend  of  years  ago. 


CHAPTER   LXXVIII. 

THE  COMMENCEMENT  AND  COMPLETION  OF  THE 
RISE  AND  FALL  OF  THE  CONFEDERATE  STATES 
OF  AMERICA.— THE  DEATH  OF  JEFFERSON  DA 
VIS,  JR.— HONORS  AWARDED  BY  MR.DAVIS'S  COUN 
TRYMEN. 

WHEN  the  affairs  of  the  Mississippi  Valley 
Company  were  wound  up,  Mr.  Davis  looked 
about  for  a  place  so  quiet  and  secluded 
that  he  could  write  his  history  uninterrupted. 
This  he  found  after  inquiry  in  the  neighbor 
hood  of  Beauvoir  Station,  near  which  he 
owned  a  tract  of  land,  and  of  which  he  knew 
something".  Then  there  were  only  three  or 
four  houses  occupied  there,  and  the  isolation 
seemed  favorable  to  his  purpose. 

Beauvoir  House  was  owned  and  occupied 
by  Mrs.  Sarah  A.  Dorsey,  an  old  schoolmate 
of  mine,  and  a  literary  woman  of  some  note. 
Several  of  her  female  relations  and  her  young 
brother  lived  with  her.  Mr.  Davis  rented 
one  of  the  cottages  called  the  pavilion,  to  the 
left  of  the  main  house,  en^a^ed  board  from 

o     o 

her  for  himself  and  family  when  they  should  be 
with  him,  furnished  it,  put  up  shelves  for  his 


g26  JEFFERSON  DAVIS. 

books  and  papers,  and  with  his  servant  set 
tled  himself  there  for  the  work,  having  writ 
ten  previously  to  an  assistant  to  join  him  and 
establish  himself  at  some  convenient  distance 
on  the  coast.  Mrs.  Dorsey  offered  her  clerical 
services  at  stated  hours  during  the  day,  and 
thus  a  part  of  the  first  volume  was  \vritten. 

As  soon  as  it  was  considered  advisable,  in 
April  of  1878,  leaving  my  little  girl  in  Carls- 
ruhe,  I  returned  home.  After  a  short  time 
spent  with  our  daughter,  Mrs.  Hayes,  and 
our  only  remaining  son  Jefferson,  now  grown 
a  strong,  sober,  industrious,  and  witty  young 
man,  who  was  exceedingly  intimate  with  his 
father,  and  loved  him  devotedly— indeed  they 
were  like  two  young  friends  together — I  joined 
my  husband  at  Beauvoir. 

As  Mr.  Davis  had  lost  all  his  papers,  the 
history  of  the  Confederacy  was  unwritten  save 
by  the  deeds  of  its  defenders,  and  he  soon  felt 
he  could  not  attempt  to  give  anything  worthy 
of  the  name  of  history  without  reliable  data  ; 
he  therefore  decided  to  give  an  account  of  his 
administration  of  the  government,  and  explain 
his  policy.  This  he  prefaced  by  his  constitu 
tional  argument,  setting  forth  the  grounds  of 
his  faith,  How  he  has  done  this,  the  approv 
al  of  the  lawyers  and  statesmen  of  the  country 
has  declared  better  than  I  could.  Several 
causes  delayed  the  completion  of  the  book. 


COMPLETION  Of  HIS  tflSTORY.  £27 

In  the  course  of  this  summer  a  virulent 
kind  of  yellow  fever  broke  out  in  Memphis 
and  in  New  Orleans,  and  from  these  two 
centres  spread  over  the  whole  country,  not 
alone  in  the  towns  but  for  miles  in  the  inter 
ior.  Our  daughter  Margaret  had  taken  ref 
uge  from  the  heat  of  Memphis  in  the  West, 
but  as  her  husband  could  not  leave  his  bank 
in  Memphis,  she,  fearless  of  the  consequen 
ces  to  herself,  returned  to  the  neighborhood 
of  that  place  to  be  near  him  in  case  he  should 
be  ill.  Our  only  son  Jefferson  was  also  in  the 
bank,  and  insisted  on  remaining  near  his  sister. 
We  were  environed  by  yellow  fever  on  all 
sides  at  Beauvoir.  Mr.  Davis  thought  he 
could  not  leave  on  account  of  his  literary  la 
bor  to  join  our  children,  and  I  feared  to  leave 
him. 

The  long  summer  passed  and  autumn  be 
gan  while  we  were  racked  with  the  most 
acute  anxiety.  In  October  our  son  was  taken 
with  the  fever  very  violently.  I  prepared  at 
once  to  go  to  him,  as  his  father  was  not 
physically  able  to  make  the  journey ;  but  he 
persuaded  me  to  wait  a  day  because  the  phy 
sicians  would  not  let  me  see  him,  as  even  a 
pleasurable  excitement  would  kill  our  boy, 
and  if  I  should  take  the  fever  our  heroic 
daughter  would  insist  on  nursing  me  and  thus 
take  the  disease.  I  was  taken  very  ill  in  two 


DA  VIS. 

days,  and  our  son  died  after  a  short,  sharp 
illness  in  which  he  knew  his  danger  and  ex 
pressed  his  willingness  to  obey  God's  will. 
He  died  as  he  lived,  at  peace  with  God 
and  man  ;  and  tenderly  mindful  of  those  who 
would  have  no  strong  young  man  to  sustain 
them  when  his  noble  spirit  went  to  its  rest. 
The  last  of  our  sons,  at  the  age  of  twenty- 
one,  was  now  taken  from  us,  and  we  had  but 
two  children  left. 

Mr.  Davis  was  crushed  by  the  blow  and 
could  not  rally.  He  ceased  to  labor  on  his 
book  and  sat  all  day,  silent  in  his  wordless 
grief.  Occasionally  he  would  say  :  "  I  do  not 
know  why  I  suffer  so  much,  it  cannot  be  long 
before  I  am  reunited  to  my  boy." 

Mrs.  Dorsey  about  this  time  felt  the  per 
sistent  advances  of  a  fatal  malady  under  which 
she  had  been  suffering  for  many  years,  and 
concluded  to  seek  the  aid  of  an  eminent  sur 
geon  in  New  Orleans,  and  while  I  was  absent 
in  attendance  upon  my  daughter,  Mrs.  Hayes, 
who  was  quite  ill,  Mrs.  Dorsey  sold  Beauvoir 
House  to  Mr.  Davis  at  a  fair  valuation,  and 
went  to  New  Orleans.  She  seemed  for  a 
while  to  recuperate,  but  eventually  died  from 
the  reappearance  of  her  disease.  Before  her 
death  she  extracted  a  promise  from  my  hus 
band  to  be  her  executor,  to  which  he  objected 
on  the  score  that  he  was  old  and  could  not 


COMPLETION   OF  HIS  HISTORY.  829 

administer  very  well  any  trust;  but  upon  her 
showing  persistence,  he,  believing  the  trust  to 
be  one  of  an  eleemosynary  nature,  consented 
After  her  death  he  discovered  that  the  prop 
erty  was  devised  to  him,  but  in  order  that  he 
might  not  refuse  it,  the  reversion  was  made  to 
our  youngest  daughter,  then  a  minor.  Mrs. 
Dorsey's  uniform  kindness  to  him  and  defer 
ence  to  his  wishes  had  endeared  her  to  him, 
and  he  felt  her  death  very  much.  This  again 
interrupted  the  progress  of  the  book. 

After  a  few  months  Judge  Tenney,  a  man 
of  just  and  cultivated  mind,  had  been  sent 
down  by  the  publishers  to  assist  Mr.  Davis 
in  compilation,  and  Mr.  Davis  derived  much 
aid  from  his  labors,  and  comfort  from  the  pro 
found  confidence  he  felt  in  his  rectitude  and 
piety.  I  wrote  to  Mr.  Davis's  dictation,  for 
we  knew  nothing  of  typewriters  then. 

Finally,  after  three  years  from  the  com 
mencement  of  the  book,  it  was  finished.  It 
was  four  o'clock,  and  I  had  been  writing  since 
eight  o'clock  in  the  evening,  when  Mr.  Davis 
dictated :  "  In  asserting  the  right  of  seces 
sion  it  has  not  been  my  wish  to  incite  to  its 
exercise.  I  recognize  the  fact  that  the  war 
showed  it  to  be  impracticable,  but  this  did 
not  prove  it  to  be  wrong ;  and  now,  that  it 
may  not  be  again  attempted,  and  the  Union 
may  promote  the  general  welfare,  it  is  need- 


8  30  JEFFERSON  DAVIS. 

ful  that  the  truth,  the  whole  truth,  should  be 
known,  so  that  crimination  and  recrimination 
may  forever  cease,  and  then,  on  the  basis  of 
fraternity  and  faithful  regard  for  the  rights  of 
the  States,  there  may  be  written  on  the  arch 
of  the  Union  '  Esto  perpetua."  I  looked 
up  after  a  momentary  silence  to  remind  him 
that  he  had  forgotten  to  continue,  and  he 
smilingly  said,  "  I  think  I  am  done."  And  so 
was  finished  his  life's  work  for  his  country 
men  ;  but  a  foot-note  amusingly  attests  the 
strength  of  his  convictions  even  about  small 
things.  "  Note  :  The  publishers  are  respon 
sible  for  the  authography  of  these  volumes." 
He  would  not  change  his  mode  of  spelling, 
and  insisted  that  sabre  and  theatre  were  cor 
rect,  and  if  the  publishers  insisted  upon  saber 
and  theater,  they  must  take  the  discredit  of 
the  innovation. 

The  expense  of  an  assistant,  and  the  price 
of  the  book,  which  placed  it  beyond  the  reach 
of  poor  Confederates,  as  well  as  the  fact  that 
an  inadequate  compensation  to  him  had  been 
agreed  upon  by  his  agent  with  the  Messrs. 
Appleton,  prevented  the  book  from  being  pe 
cuniarily  remunerative  to  him  ;  but  he  said  he 
had  not  undertaken  it  as  a  matter  of  profit, 
and  therefore  must  be  satisfied  if  the  end  was 
gained  of  setting  the  righteous  motives  of  the 
South  before  the  world, 


COMPLETION   OF  HIS  HISTORY.  831 

As  soon  as  "  The  Rise  and  Fall  "  was  com 
pleted  we  embarked  at  New  Orleans,  and 
went  to  Liverpool,  and  from  there  to  meet  our 
young  daughter,  who  had  left  Germany  for  the 
advantage  of  a  few  months  in  Paris  before 
quitting  school.  We  remained  three  months 
in  Paris,  and  during  this  time  Mr.  Davis  spent 
the  greater  part  of  his  time  with  his  old  friend, 
A.  Dudley  Mann,  at  Chantilly.  Mr.  Benja 
min  came  to  us  there,  older,  but  the  same 
cheerful  buoyant  person,  and  that  proved  to 
be  our  last  farewell  to  him.  We  returned 
home  in  November  of  the  same  year,  and 
took  up  our  abode  at  Beauvoir. 

The  people  of  Alabama  invited  Mr.  Davis 
to  visit  them  the  next  year,  and  our  daughter 
Varina,  known  as  Winnie  in  the  family,  ac 
companied  him.  The  enthusiasm  with  which 
he  was  received  could  not  be  described.  All 
classes  came  to  do  him  honor,  and  the  journey 
was  extended  to  Atlanta  and  Savannah,  and 
at  the  former  place  Governor  Gordon,  our 
heroic  paladin  of  the  "long  ago,"  presented 
Varina  to  an  enthusiastic  crowd  as  "The 
daughter  of  the  Confederacy/'  She  was 
adopted  then  by  the  rank  and  file  of  our  vet 
erans,  and  now  values  their  suffrages  more 
than  any  earthly  privilege.  Some  years  later, 
our  whole  family  were  urged  to  be  present  at 
the  yearly  agricultural  fair  at  Macon.  We 


832  JEFFERSON  DAVIS. 

were  asked  by,  and  accepted  the  kind  invita 
tion  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Marsh  Johnson,  to  re 
main  with  them  during"  our  stay..  The  enthu 
siasm  baffled  description,  and  on  Veterans' 
Day,  as  it  rained  steadily,  they  were  to  march 
to  Colonel  Johnson's  house  to  greet  Mr. 
Davis  ;  but  they  were  too  impatient  to  pursue 
the  circuitous  carriage  route,  but  jumped  over 
the  fence  and  came  running  and  shouting  all 
the  way  to  greet  their  old  chief;  the  tattered 
battle  flags  were  borne  in  the  strong  hands 
that  saved  them  twenty  years  before  from 
capture,  and  with  tender  words  "they  called 
him  worthy  to  be  loved,"  who  looked  his  last 
at  them  through  eyes  shining  with  a  pride 
in  them  too  great  for  words  ;  but  the  strong, 
brave  heart  that  had  not  quailed  under  dan 
ger,  imprisonment,  and  vilification,  sunk  un 
der  the  weight  of  his  people's  love,  and  he 
was  stricken  with  heart  failure.  After  days 
of  suffering  and  imminent  danger,  Dr.  H.  Me- 
Hatton,  his  able  physician,  ordered  him  back 
to  Beauvoir,  and  enjoined  quiet  upon  him  for 
the  future. 

Never  defeated  man  had  such  a  following, 
and  never  had  people  a  leader  who  so  loved 
them. 


CHAPTER   LXXIX. 

GENERAL   SHERMAN'S  ACCUSATIONS. 

THOUGH  we  lived  in  strict  retirement,  when 
ever  a  theme  for  abuse  was  wanted,  one  or 
the  other  of  Mr.  Davis's  antagonists  in  the 
North  assailed  him. 

At  a  meeting  of  the  Frank  P.  Blair  Post, 
Grand  Army  of  the  Republic,  in  St.  Louis  in 
1884,  General  Sherman  was  reported  to  have 
made  allegations,  hereinafter  quoted  by  Mr. 
Davis  in  a  letter  characterizing  those  state 
ments. 

General  Sherman's  remarks  were  published 
in  the  Globe-Democrat  of  St.  Louis,  and  Mr. 
Davis  wrote  the  following  letter  of  denial : 

"BEAUVOIR,  Miss.,  November  6,  1884. 

"Editor  St.  Louis  Republican  : 

"  DEAR  SIR  :  I  have  to-night  received  the 
enclosed  published  account  of  remarks  made 
by  General  W.  T.  Sherman,  and  ask  the  use 
of  your  columns  to  notice  only  so  much  as 
particularly  refers  to  myself,  and  which  is  to 
be  found  in  the  following  extract ; 

VOL.  II.— 53 


834  JEFFERSON  DAVIS. 

"  The  following  is  from  the  Globe-Demo- 
craf s  report : 

"  '  Referring  to  the  late  war,  he  said,  it  was 
not,  as  was  generally  understood,  a  war  of  se 
cession  from  the  United  States,  but  a  con 
spiracy.  "  I  have  been  behind  the  curtain," 
said  be,  "  and  I  have  seen  letters  that  few 
others  have  seen  and  have  heard  conversa 
tions  that  cannot  be  repeated ;  and  I  tell  you 
that  Jeff  Davis  never  was  a  secessionist.  He 
was  a  conspirator.  He  did  not  care  for  di 
vision  from  the  United  States,  his  object 
was  to  get  a  fulcrum  from  which  to  operate 
against  the  Northern  States,  and  if  he  had  suc 
ceeded,  he  would  to-day  be  the  master  spirit 
of  the  continent,  and  you  would  be  slaves.  I 
have  seen  a  letter  from  Jefferson  Davis  to 
a  man  whose  name  I  cannot  mention,  be 
cause  he  is  a  United  States  Senator.  I  know 
Davis's  writing,  and  saw  his  signature,  and 
in  that  letter  he  said  he  would  turn  Lee's 
army  against  any  State  that  might  attempt  to 
secede  from  the  Southern  Confederacy." 

"  This  public  assault,  under  the  covert  plea 
that  it  is  based  upon  information  which  re 
gard  for  a  United  States  Senator  does  not 
permit  him  to  present,  will,  to  honorable 
minds,  suggest  the  idea  of  irresponsible  slan 
der. 

"  It  is  thus  devolved  upon  me  to  say  that 


GENERAL  SHERMAN'S  ACCUSATIONS.     835 

the  allegation  of  my  ever  having  written  such 
a  letter  as  is  described  is  unqualifiedly  false  ; 
and  the  assertion  that  I  had  any  purpose  or 
wish  to  destroy  the  liberty  and  equal  rights 
of  any  State,  either  North  or  South,  is  a 
reckless  falsehood,  especially,  because  it  was 
generally  known  that  for  many  years  before, 
as  well  as  during  the  war  between  the  States, 
I  was  an  earnest  advocate  of  the  strict  con 
struction  State-rights  theory  of  Mr.  Jeffer 
son.  What  motive  other  than  personal  ma 
lignity  can  be  conceived  for  so  gross  a  libel  ? 
"  If  General  Sherman  has  access  to  any  let 
ters  purporting  to  have  been  written  by  me, 
which  will  sustain  his  accusations,  let  him 
produce  them  or  wear  the  brand  of  a  base 
slanderer.  "  Yours  respectfully, 

"  JEFFERSON  DAVIS." 

In  reply  to  the  above  letter,  General  Sher 
man  is  reported  to  have  said  : 

"  It  was  a  matter  between  two  gentlemen, 
and  he  would  take  his  own  time  about  reply 
ing  to  Mr.  Davis.  He  would  reply  in  time, 
and  Mr.  Davis  would  be  accommodated  with 
facts.  He  would  not  give  the  name  of  the 
United  States  Senator  who  had  received  that 
important  letter  from  Mr.  Davis." 

He  said  later  on,  that  the  letter  had  been 
burned  with  others  of  his  papers  at  Chicago. 


836  JEFFERSON  DAVIS. 

Senator  Vance  being  very  positive  that  he 
could  not  have  been  the  one  referred  to  by 
General  Sherman  in  his  statement,  authorized 
the  following  publication  in  the  St.  Louis 
Globe-Democrat : 

"  'WASHINGTON,  D.  C,  December  i4th. 

K  '  Every  letter  ever  written  to  me  on  a  po 
litical  topic  by  President  Davis  is  to  be  found 
faithfully  copied  on  the  official  letter-books  of 
the  Executive  Department  of  North  Carolina. 
Those  letter-books  were  taken  from  me  by 
General  Sherman's  troops  at  the  closing  of 
the  war,  and  are  now  in  possession  of  the 
War  Department  in  this  city.  Aside  from 
the  letter-books,  General  Sherman  never  saw 
any  letter  addressed  to  me  by  President  Da 
vis.  Although  I  have  not  seen  those  books 
and  read  their  contents  in  almost  twenty 
years,  I  am  quite  sure  that  no  such  letter  can 
be  found  there.  I  could  not  have  forgotten 
such  a  letter  had  it  been  received  by  me. 
The  suggestion,  therefore,  that  I  am  the  per 
son  referred  to  in  General  Sherman's  state 
ments  is  entirely  untrue.  It  is  well-known 
by  those  acquainted  with  the  history  of  those 
times  that  my  differences  with  Mr.  Davis 
were  purely  in  regard  to  matters  of  detail, 
and  that  I  supported  him  in  his  efforts  to 
maintain  the  Confederacy  with  all  the  zeal 


GENERAL   SHERMANS  ACCUSATIONS.     837 

that  I  could  command  and  all  the  power  of 
the  State  which  I  could  bring  to  bear.  This 
Mr.  Davis's  letters  all  show.  To  the  letter 
of  mine  to  Mr.  Davis  of  October  25,  1862,  the 
New  York  Tribune  correspondent  says  no 
copy  of  any  reply  can  be  found,  and  suggests 
that  probably  the  statement  to  which  General 
Sherman  refers  is  contained  in  it.  Certainly 
no  effort  was  made  to  find  that  letter.  It  is 
upon  the  letter-book,  dated  November  i, 
1862.  It  has  been  widely  published,  and  con 
tains  no  such  expression  as  a  threat  against 
the  States  attempting  to  secede  from  the 
Confederacy,  but  does  contain  this  expres 
sion  :  "  I  feel  grateful  to  you  for  the  cordial 
manner  in  which  you  have  sustained  every 
proposition  connected  with  the  public  de 
fence."  This  much  is  due  to  the  truth.  Great 
as  were  the  abilities,  and  high  as  were  the 
courage  and  faithfulness  of  Mr.  Davis,  I  had 
no  disposition  to  load  him  with  all  the  mis 
fortunes  of  defeat/ 

"  Mr.  Davis  to  Governor  Vance. 

"  'RALEIGH,  N.  C.,  December  I4th. 

"  '  In  reference  to  the  recent  controversy  be 
tween  General  Sherman  and  Jefferson  Davis, 
in  which  the  former  charges  the  latter  with 
having  threatened  to  force  certain  States  to 
remain  in  the  Confederacy,  it  has  been  stated 


838  JEFFERSON  DAVIS. 

that  Davis's  letter,  containing  this  threat,  was 
written  to  Governor  Vance,  now  United 
States  Senator,  in  reply  to  his  letter  to  Pres 
ident  Davis  of  October  25,  1862.  It  has  been 
stated  also  that  the  letter  of  Davis  had  been 
destroyed.  This  is  a  mistake  ;  the  letter  is 
here,  and  is  now  in  the  possession  of  a  gen 
tleman  of  Raleigh.  It  is  as  follows  : 

"  '  "  RICHMOND,  VA.,  November  n,  1862. 

"  '  "  To  His  EXCELLENCY  GOVERNOR  VANCE, 

Raleigh,  N.  C. 

"  *  "  DEAR  SIR:  I  have  the  honor  to  ac 
knowledge  yours  of  the  25th  tilt.,  and  regret 
the  disappointment  to  which  some  of  the  re 
cruits  of  North  Carolina  have  been  subjected. 
I  concur  with  you  as  to  the  policy  of  allowing 
the  conscripts,  as  far  as  the  state  of  the  ser 
vice  will  permit,  to  select  the  companies 
and  regiments  in  which  they  are  to  serve. 
The  right  secured  by  law  of  a  volunteer  to  se 
lect  his  own  company  was  lost,  it  is  true,  by 
enrollments  ;  but  the  policy  was  so  obvious 
of  associating  men  together  who  would  best 
harmonize  with  each  other,  that  it  was  my 
purpose  to  continue  the  privilege  beyond  the 
limit  fixed  by  law.  That,  as  you  are  aware, 
it  serves  to  check  the  discontent  which  re 
sulted  from  retaining  twelve-month  men  be 
yond  the  term  of  their  original  engagement, 


GENERAL  SHERMAN'S  ACCUSATIONS.     839 

and  was  fairly  regarded  as  measure  to  equit 
ably  distribute  the  burden  of  public  defence. 
I  shall  endeavor  by  a  judicial  decision  to  set 
tle  the  question  raised,  and  meantime  I  have 
been  cheered  by  the  evidence  of  popular  sen 
timent  which  supports  any  measure  necessary 
to  protect  our  country  and  secure  our  politi 
cal  independence.  Like  yourself,  I  have  hoped 
that  party  distinctions  which  existed  at  a  for 
mer  time  would  be  buried  in  the  graves  of  the 
gallant  men  who  have  fallen  in  defence  of  their 
birthright,  and  that  we  should  all  as  a  band 
of  brothers  strike  for  the  inheritance  our  fath 
ers  left  us.  With  sincere  regard  I  am  re 
spectfully  and  truly, 

"  '  "  (Signed.)     JEFFERSON  DAVIS."  '  " 

On  January  16,  1885,  Chester  A.  Arthur, 
President  of  the  United  States,  in  answer  to 
a  Senate  resolution,  January  13,  1885,  sent 
the  copy  of  a  letter  to  the  Secretary  of  War, 
from  General  W.  T.  Sherman,  dated  Janu 
ary  6,  1885. 

In  this  letter  to  the  secretary,  that  thus  be 
came  of  public  record,  General  Sherman  re 
lates  the  incident  of  his  having  been  present 
at  the  meeting  of  the  G.  A.  R.  Post,  in  St. 
Louis,  and  reiterates  his  remarks  with  slight 
variation,  ''  that  he  had  seen  papers  which 
convinced  me  (him)  that  the  President  of  the 


840  JEFFERSON  DA  VIS. 

Southern  Confederacy  had,  during  the  prog 
ress  of  the  war,  changed  his  States'  rights  doc 
trines,  and  had  threatened  to  use  force — even 
Lee's  army — should  any  State  of  the  Confed 
eracy  attempt  to  secede  from  the  Government." 
He  added  :  "  Yet  I  shrink  not  from  a  just  re 
sponsibility  for  every  word  uttered  there  or  at 
any  time."  The  balance  of  his  letter  contains 
only  extraneous  matter,  having  no  reference 
to  the  explicit  charge  made. 

The  following  account  of  the  presentation 
of  General  Sherman's  letter  to  the  United 
States  Senate  appeared  in  the  public  prints, 
and  one  of  the  captions  is  quoted  here  : 

No  Scapegoat  Wanted.  The  South  Re 
sponsible,  not  President  Davis.  Continua 
tion  of  the  Debate  in  the  United  States  Senate 
on  the  Resolution  to  Print  Senator  Sher 
man  s  "  Historical"  Papers — Senators  Vance 
and  Brown  Stand  by  their  Record — General 
Sherman  s  Mendacity  Thoroughly  Exposed — 
The  Resolution  Passed. — WASHINGTON,  Jan 
uary  1 3th. — In  the  Senate,  at  ten  o'clock,  on 
motion  of  Senator  Hawley,  his  resolution  to 
call  upon  the  President  for  copies  of  the  pa 
pers  filed  in  the  War  Department  by  General 
Sherman,  as  a  reply  to  certain  strictures  of 
Mr.  Jefferson  Davis,  former  President  of  the 
Confederate  States,  was  taken  up. 


GENERAL  SHERMAN'S  ACCUSATIONS.     841 

Senator  Vance  said  that  as  the  Senate 
would  probably  pass  this  resolution  and  place 
on  its  record  an  unofficial  paper  by  General 
William  T.  Sherman,  which  makes  certain 
statements  about  persons,  it  was  proper  that 
all  persons  affected  by  those  statements 
should  be  heard  in  the  same  form.  He  said 
that  the  newspapers  stated  General  Sherman 
had  been  interviewed,  who  said  that  Vance 
was  not  the  person  alluded  to  as  the  Gov 
ernor  to  whom  the  letter  had  been  addressed. 
He  thought  that  this  denial  at  both  ends  of 
the  line  would  conclude  the  matter,  but  it 
seemed  he  was  mistaken. 

General  Sherman  said :  "  At  Raleigh  a 
mass  of  public  records  had  been  carried  off; 
yet  a  number  were  left  behind  at  the  State 
House  and  a  mansion  called  the  Palace,  which 
we  occupied  as  headquarters  during  our  stay 
there,  namely,  from  April  13  to  April  29,  1860. 
These  records  and  papers  were  overhauled 
by  professional  clerks,  who  delivered  to  Ad 
jutant-General  Sawyer  such  information  as 
was  material,  and  attention  was  only  drawn 
to  such  as  were  deemed  of  sufficient  impor 
tance.  Among  the  books  collected  at  the 
Palace  in  Raleigh  was  a  clerk's  or  secretary's 
copy-book  containing  loose  sheets  and  let 
ters,  among  which  was  the  particular  letter  of 
Davis,  to  which  I  referred  in  my  St.  Louis 


842  JEFFERSON  DAVIS. 

speech.  ...  It  explained  to  me  why 
Governor  Vance,  after  sending  to  me  a  com 
missioner  to  treat  for  his  State  particularly, 
now  awaited  my  answer.  I  am  quite  sure 
that  we  generally  thought  it  was  the  desire 
of  Governor  Vance  and  of  the  officials  to  take 
North  Carolina  out  of  the  Confederacy,  as  I 
have  stated,  but  they  were  afraid  of  Jefferson 
Davis,  and  wanted  protection." 

Concerning  this  statement,  Senator  Vance 
remarked  that  he  wished  to  say,  first,  that  no 
letters,  documents,  or  public  books  of  any 
character  were  ever  left  at  his  residence  or  at 
the  Palace  of  the  Governor  while  he  was  its 
occupant ;  second,  no  clerk  or  secretary  of 
his  ever  kept,  as  reported,  any  copy-book  for 
correspondence,  all  official  or  public  letters 
being  first  copied  in  a  letter-book  which  was 
required  by  law  to  be  kept  in  the  executive 
office,  and  then  tied  up  into  a  bundle  and 
placed  in  files,  where  they  still  remain  ;  third, 
General  Sherman  did  not  find  in  the  copy 
book  the  particular  letter  of  Davis  to  which 
he  referred  in  his  speech,  for  the  simple  reason 
that  there  was  no  such  letter  there  and  no 
such  copy-books  when  Vance  occupied  the 
house  ;  fourth,  he  averred  most  positively,  on 
the  honor  of  a  gentleman  and  an  American 
Senator,  that  no  letter  containing  such  a 
threat  was  ever  received  by  him  from  Jeffer- 


GENERAL  SHERMAN'S  ACCUSATIONS.    843 

son  Davis.  All  letters  from  President  Davis 
to  him  of  any  nature  were  to  be  found  copied 
in  the  letter-books  of  the  Executive  Depart 
ment  of  North  Carolina,  which  books  were 
now  in  the  War  Department. 

The  reasons  given  by  General  Sherman  to 
corroborate  his  statement  were  such,  Sena 
tor  Vance  thought,  as  would  scarcely  com 
mend  themselves  to  a  respectable  lawyer. 
General  Sherman  said  he  had  paid  little  at 
tention  to  the  letter  at  the  time,  and  did  not 
say  that  he  ever  saw  it  afterward.  General 
Sherman  had  said  further :  "  Davis  being 
then  himself  a  fugitive,  his  opinions  were  of 
little  importance."  Senator  Vance  supposed 
it  was  perhaps  the  little  attention  given  to  the 
opinions  of  an  unimportant  man  that  enabled 
General  Sherman  to  remember  so  well  the 
contents  of  the  letter  after  the  lapse  of  nearly 
twenty  years.  The  suggestion  as  to  the 
probable  fate  of  that  mysterious  letter,  that  it 
was  burned  in  the  Chicago  fire,  was  a  mere 
apology  for  its  non-production,  .and  contra 
dicted  the  idea  of  its  importance,  for  if  it  had 
been  such  as  General  Sherman  said  it  was,  it 
would  have  found  its  way  into  the  public  files. 

But  there  was  another  matter  averred  by 
General  Sherman  that  more  nearly  concerned 
Senator  Vance,  and  to  which  he  would  ask 
the  attention  of  the  Senate.  (i  It  may  be, 


844  JEFFERSON  DA  VIS. 

sir,"  continued  Senator  Vance,  "that  North 
ern  gentlemen  who  were  on  the  victorious  side 
during  the  Civil  War  cannot  properly  appre 
ciate  the  feelings  and  sentiments  of  those  who 
were  on  the  side  of  misfortune  and  defeat 
They  seem  to  regard  it  as  quite  a  sin  and 
shame  that  we  do  not  readily  join  in  the  de 
nunciations  that  are  heaped  upon  him  who 
was  the  leader  in  that  war,  and  hasten  to 
condemn  him  on  all  occasions  as  the  surest 
way  of  excusing  our  conduct  and  commend 
ing  ourselves  to  the  good  opinion  of  our  late 
opponents.  Surely  no  man  of  even  the 
slightest  sense  of  honor  in  his  composition 
would  respect  any  Southern  man  who  would 
thus  debase  himself.  Surely  the  most  flagrant 
and  rampant  trafficker  in  issues  of  sectional 
hatred  would  respect  more  an  adversary  who 
came  to  him  walking  upright  on  his  feet  than 
one  crawling.  If  not,  if  a  different  sentiment 
is  to  prevail,  what  must  we  think  of  the  man 
hood  of  men  who  should  entertain  it.  Now, 
sir,  be  it  known  to  you  that  those  of  us  who 
pledged  our  faith  to  each  other  for  the  estab 
lishment  of  the  Confederacy  gave  up  all  for 
which  we  contended  when  it  failed,  retaining 
to  ourselves  only  one  solitary  satisfactory  re 
flection,  and  that  is  that  we  had  at  least  served 
our  country  faithfully,  honestly,  and  devoted 
ly  as  we  understood  it." 


GENERAL  SHERMAN'S  ACCUSATIONS.     845 

Senator  Joseph  Brown,  of  Georgia,  also 
disclaimed  ever  receiving  such  a  letter.  Gen 
eral  Sherman  did  not  specify  the  other  of  the 
three  ex-Governors  who  became  senators  as 
the  person  who  received  the  apocryphal  letter. 

After  this  false  charge  three  times  dis 
proved  by  the  reputed  actors  in  General 
Sherman's  so-called  conspiracy  by  Mr.  Davis 
to  intimidate  the  Governors,  the  Senate  en 
tered  General  Sherman's  misrepresentations 
on  the  Journal  of  that  body,  and  the  consola 
tion  my  husband  had  in  looking  at  this  crys 
tallization  of  a  slander,  was  that  in  the  future 
an  impartial  seeker  after  truth  will  find  and 
proclaim  it.  When  the  passions  of  the  day 
have  died  out  with  the  august  figures  that 
have  passed,  posterity  will  do  justice. 

Mr.  Davis  thus  wrote  to  one  of  the  Sena 
tors  voting  in  the  negative. 

"  BEAUVOIR,  Miss.,  January  30,  1885. 

"  HONORABLE , 

UNITED  STATES  SENATE. 

"  MY  DEAR  SIR  :  accept  my  thanks  for 
your  defence  of  me  against  slanderous  accu 
sations,  and  equally  are  they  tendered  for 
your  vindication  of  our  people  against  allega 
tions  alike  unfounded  and  indefensible. 

"  General  Sherman  in  a  published  address 
stated  that  he  had  seen  letters  and  had  con- 


846  JEFFERSON  DAVIS. 

versations  giving  him  information  which  few 
possessed  and  which  showed  that  I  was  a 
conspirator  whose  object  was  by  secession  to 
get  a  fulcrum  for  the  subjugation  of  the 
Southern  States. 

"  As  soon  as  the  publication  reached  me,  I 
pronounced  this  a  reckless  falsehood.  He 
also  states  that  he  had  seen  a  letter  addressed 
to  one  now  a  United  States  Senator,  which 
he  knew  to  be  in  my  handwriting  and  with 
my  signature,  in  which  letter  I  had  declared 
my  purpose  to  turn  Lee's  army  against  any 
State  that  might  attempt  to  secede  from  the 
Southern  Confederacy.  I  also  denounced 
this  assertion  as  false,  and  demanded  that 
General  Sherman  should  produce  the  evidence 
on  which  the  accusations  were  founded,  or 
wear  the  brand  of  a  base  slanderer. 

"  As  he  was  reported  in  several  newspa 
pers  to  have  said  that  it  was  a  personal  "matter 
between  him  and  myself,  to  which  he  would 
attend  in  due  time  and  in  his  own  manner, 
it  was  to  have  been  expected  that  he  would 
either  retract  allegations  which  he  could  not 
sustain,  or  produce  the  evidence  on  which  he 
had  made  them.  He  has  done  neither,  but  in 
a  wordy  paper  on  extraneous  matter  has 
sought  to  obscure  the  true  issue,  as  the  cuttle 
fish  blackens  the  water  to  aid  in  its  escape ; 
he  has  thus  virtually  accepted  the  brand  he 


GENERAL  SHERMAN'S  ACCUSATIONS.     847 

had  won  by  his  wanton  calumny,  and  I  am 
content  to  leave  him  to  his  unenviable  noto 
riety  which  he  has  thus,  and  twice  before,  ac 
quired." 

Through  the  influence  of  partisan  hostility 
General  Sherman  has  succeeded  in  having 
spread  upon  the  records  of  the  Senate  his  im 
aginary  and  false  accusation  without  the  refu 
tation,  and  our  consolation  is  that  truth  is  the 
Excalibar  of  the  innocent. 

In  defending  the  Confederates  or  himself 
against  calumnies,  Mr.  Davis  showed  that  age 
did  not  impair  either  his  spirit  or  courage,  and 
he  asked  no  aid  from  his  friends  or  coadjutors, 
his  conscience  was  clear  and  he  looked  with 
in  and  saw  reflected  only  the  aims  of  an  un 
selfish,  much-enduring  patriot. 


CHAPTER   LXXX. 

GENERAL   JOSEPH   E.    JOHNSTON  AND  THE  CONFED 
ERATE   TREASURE. 

THE  quiet  tenor  of  Mr.  Davis's  life  flowed 
on ;  in  supervising1  his  own  affairs,  and  in  re 
ceiving  the  visits  of  neighbors  and  friends, 
he  rarely  gave  more  than  a  glance  at  the  po 
litical  condition  of  the  country,  generally 
winding  up  his  few  gentle  remarks  of  disap 
proval  with  the  phrase  "  we  are  drifting  fast." 
He  seemed  so  averse  to  controversies  that 
he  neglected  to  read  the  "  charges  and  spe 
cifications  "  put  forth  by  Generals  Johnston, 
Beauregard,  and  others.  Some  apocryphal 
histories  came  forth  also  in  a  kind  of  defam 
atory  international  leaflets,  generally  pub 
lished  at  the  North,  and  always  inspired  or 
attested  by  one  or  the  other  of  the  malcon 
tent  Confederate  generals  or  their  staff. 

At  this  time  General  Johnston  made  him 
self  conspicuous  for  a  remarkable  dual  nature, 
partaking  of  the  mistrustful  St.  Thomas  and 
the  faithful  Abraham.  In  an  interview  with 
Colonel  Frank  Burr,  of  the  Press,  he  expressed 
his  doubt  of  the  honesty  of  the  President  of 


GENERAL    JOSEPH  E.    JOHNSTON.         849 

the  Confederate  States,  and  intimated  that 
he  had  made  away  with  over  two  millions  of 
Confederate  treasure ;  and  then  the  other 
side  of  General  Johnston's  character  asserted 
itself,  when,  for  his  figures,  he  cited  General 
Beauregard's  estimate,  and  declined  to  read 
Colonel  Burr's  report  of  the  conversation 
before  it  was  sent  to  the  Press  because,  he 
said,  "  that  was  not  necessary ;  no  man 
ought  to  make  a  statement  to  a  journalist 
that  he  was  not  willing  to  stand  by,"  *  but 
nevertheless  he  yet  felt  a  profound  confidence 
that  what  he  said  would  not  be  made  public. 

The  history  of  the  disposition  of  the  Con 
federate  treasure  is  given  in  extenso  below, 
and  the  case  is  rested  on  the  evidence.  It  is 
not  all  quoted,  because  my  memoir  has  been 
extended  much  more  than  was  anticipated, 
and  I  am  obliged  to  cut  out  very  valuable 
matter  which  will  be  found  available  to  any 
future  biographer  or  historian  in  the  rooms 
of  the  Louisiana  Historical  building,  at  New 
Orleans. 

On  April  I5th  Mr.  Davis,  being  at  Greens- 
borough,  S.  C.,  issued  the  following  order  to 
Mr.  J.  N.  Hendren,  Treasurer  of  the  Confed 
erate  States : 

"  You  will  report  to  General  Beauregard 

*  See  letter  of  Colonel  Burr  to  Mr.  Davis  given  in  this  statement, 
VOL.  II.— 54 


850  JEFFERSON  DAVIS. 

with  the  treasure  in  your  possession,  that  he 
may  give  it  due  protection,  as  a  military 
chest,  to  be  moved  with  his  army  train.  For 
further  instructions  you  will  report  to  the 
Secretary  of  the  Treasury. 

(Signed)  "  JEFFERSON  DAVIS. 

Official. 

(Signed)         "  F.  R.  LUBBOCK,  Colonel  and 

A.  D.  cr 

General  Johnston,  in  his  "  Narrative,"  page 
408,  says  :  "  I  arrived  in  Greensborough,  near 
which  the  Confederate  troops  were  in  bivouac, 
before  daybreak  on  April  iQth.  Colonel 
Archer  Anderson,  Adjutant-General  of  the 
army,  gave  me  two  papers  addressed  to  me 
by  the  President.  The  first  directed  me  to 
obtain  from  Mr.  J.  N.  Hendren,  treasury 
agent,  thirty-nine  thousand  dollars  in  silver, 
which  was  in  his  hands,  subject  to  my  order, 
and  to  use  it  as  the  military  chest  of  the  army. 
The  second,  received  subsequently  by  Colonel 
Anderson,  directed  me  to  send  this  money  to 
the  President,  at  Charlotte.  This  order  was 
not  obeyed,  however.  As  only  the  military 
part  of  our  Government  had  then  any  exist 
ence,  I  thought  that  a  fair  share  of  the  fund 
still  left  should  be  appropriated  to  the  benefit 
of  the  army,  especially  as  the  troops  had  re 
ceived  no  pay  for  many  months.  This  sum 


GENERAL    JOSEPH  E.    JOHNSTON.         851 

(except  twelve  hundred  dollars  which  Mr. 
Hendren  said  that  the  Commissary-General 
had  taken)  was  divided  among  the  troops  ir 
respective  of  rank,  each  individual  receiving 
the  same  share.- 

"  As  there  was  reason  to  suppose  that  the 
Confederate  Executive  had  a  large  sum  in 
specie  in  its  possession,  I  urged  it  earnestly, 
in  writing,  to  apply  a  part  of  it  to  the  pay 
ment  of  the  army.  This  letter  was  entrusted 
to  Lieutenant-Colonel  Mason,  who  was  in 
structed  to  wait  for  an  answer.  Its  receipt 
was  acknowledged  by  telegraph,  and  an  an 
swer  promised.  After  waiting  several  days 
to  no  purpose,  Colonel  Mason  returned  with 
out  one." 

When  Mr.  Davis  was  informed  of  the  above 
statement  by  "  one  who  had  read  the  '  Narra 
tive,'  "  he  wrote  to  Colonel  Anderson,  referred 
to  book  and  page,  and  inquired  what  letter 
from  him  as  there  described  he  had  received. 

He  responded  as  follows  : 

• 

"  RICHMOND,  VA.,  December  21,  1880. 

"  To  THE  HONORABLE  JEFFERSON  DAVIS, 

"  Beauvoir,  Miss. 

"  MY  DEAR  SIR:  Your  letter  of  the  I7th 
instant  was  duly  received.  I  am  sorry  to 
say  that  my  memory  does  not  enable  me  to 
give  you  any  assistance  in  regard  to  the  mat- 


852  JEFFERSON  DAVIS. 

ter  mentioned  at  page  408  of  General  John 
ston's  '  Narrative/  to  which  you  direct  my 
attention.  I  do  not  remember  anything  con 
nected  with  the  subject,  except  that  there 
was  a  payment  of  silver  coin  to  the  army  at 
Greensborough,  and  I  have  no  papers  which 
would  afford  information. 

"  Yours  truly, 

"ARCHER  ANDERSON." 

Mr.  Davis  wrote :  "  Not  recollecting  to 
have  met  Colonel  Mason  at  Charlotte,  I 
wrote  him,  asking  what  was  the  fact.  Re 
ceiving  no  reply,  I  renewed  the  inquiry,  but 
though  considerable  time  has  elapsed,  he  has 
not  answered.  It  is  possible  that  I  might 
have  met  the  gentleman  without  recollecting 
it,  but  not  probable  that  I  should  have  re 
ceived  such  a  letter  and  have  forgotten  it." 

In  1878  Mr.  Davis  received  a  letter  from 
a  former  classmate  at  West  Point,  quoting 
the  statement  of  the  United  States  Treasurer 
as  to  the  amount  of  treasure  taken  at  the 
surrender.  Among  the  items  was  one  that  a 
specified  sum  had  been  taken  from  "  Jeff 
Davis." 

To  this  letter  Mr.  Davis  replied : 

"Mississippi  CITY,  February  4,  1878. 

"The  facts  you  state  in  regard  to  captured 
treasure  are  new  to  me.  It  is  probable  that 


GENERAL    JOSEPH  E.    JOHNSTON.         853 

most  of  it  was  the  property  of  the  Richmond 
banks.  The  item  of  money  captured  from 
'Jeff  Davis'  is  unfounded,  for  the  sufficient 
reason  that  I  had  no  gold  when  captured, 
either  private  or  public.  Mr.  Reagan,  Secre 
tary  of  the  Treasury,  had  some  gold,  part  of 
it  his  private  property,  more  of  it  belonged 
to  the  C.  S.  treasury,  which  was  seized  in 
his  saddle-bags ;  the  amount  does  not,  as 
my  memory  serves  me,  correspond  with 
either  item.  It  was  probably  appropriated 
by  the  drunken  fellow  Hudson,  who  was 
recognized  as  Adj.  of  the  Michigan  Regiment, 
and  who  Reagan  told  me  got  his  saddle-bags. 

"  The  rest  of  the  C.  S.  treasury  was  in 
the  possession  of  the  treasurer  and  his 
assistant.  They  were  in  Washington,  Ga., 
when  I  left  there,  and  I  have  no  knowledge  of 
their  future  conduct. 

"  Colonel  Pritchard  told  me  that  he  had 
been  sent  in  pursuit  of  the  wagon  train,  and 
that  he  had  no  expectation  of  finding  me  with 
it.  I  will  write  to  Mr.  Reagan  and  ask  him 
to  answer  your  inquiries. 

"The  fact  is,  I  staked  all  my  property  and 
reputation  in  the  defence  of  State  rights  and 
constitutional  liberty,  as  I  understood  them. 
The  first  I  spent  in  the  cause,  except  what 
was  seized,  appropriated,  or  destroyed  by  the 
enemy  ;  the  last  has  been  persistently  assailed 


t)AVIS. 

by  all  which  falsehood  could   invent  and  mal 
ignity  employ. 

"  I  am  ever  affectionately  yours, 

"  JEFFERSON  DAVIS." 
"  C.  J.  WRIGHT,  Chicago. 

On  December  18,  i88r,  there  appeared  in 
the  Philadelphia  Press  the  following  ex 
traordinary  publication  : 

Confederate  Gold  Missing.  General  John 
ston  Calls  Jefferson  Davis  to  Account  for 
over  $2,000,000  in  Specie. 
PHILADELPHIA,  December  T7th. — The 
Press  will  publish  to-morrow  an  interview  with 
General  Joseph  E.  Johnston,  in  which  he 
charges  that  Jefferson  Davis  received  a  very 
large  sum  of  money  belonging  to  the  Con 
federate  Treasury  at  the  evacuation  of  Rich 
mond,  for  which  he  has  never  accounted.  In 
the  course  of  his  remarks  he  says  :  "  I  had 
learned  from  General  Beauregard  that  Mr. 
Davis  had  a  large  amount  of  specie  in  his 
possession,  and  I  wrote  urging  that  a  portion 
of  it  be  paid  to  the  soldiers  then  in  active  ser 
vice.  My  letter  to  Mr.  Davis  on  this  subject 
was  quite  urgent,  and  I  entrusted  it  to  Col 
onel  Mason,  of  my  staff,  with  instructions  that 
he  deliver  it  in  person  to  Mr.  Davis  and 
bring  a  reply.  Colonel  Mason  went  to  Char 
lotte,  delivered  the  letter  to  Mr.  Davis,  but 


GENERAL    JOSEPH  E.    JOHNSTON.         £55 

beyond  a  telegraphic  acknowledgment  to  me 
that  the  letter  was  received,  there  has  never 
yet  been  a  response  to  it.  Colonel  Mason 
waited  some  time  and  made  several  efforts  to 
get  a  reply  from  Mr.  Davis,  in  obedience  to 
my  instructions,  but  was  obliged  to  return 
without  one."  * 

"  What  became  of  the  specie  ?  " 

"  It  followed  or  preceded  the  head  of  the 
civil  Government  of  the  Confederacy  to  the 
South  about  the  time  Mr.  Davis  went  in  that 
direction." 

'  Have  you  any  idea  of  the  amount  of  specie 
Mr.  Davis  carried  South  ?  " 

"  Colonel  Paul,  an  eminent  artillery  officer 
of  the  Confederacy,  and  now  a  prominent 
lawyer  of  Richmond,  a  man  of  high  character, 
told  me  that  he  inspected  the  specie  be 
fore  its  removal  from  Richmond,  and  after 
it. had  been  loaded  ready  for  transportation. 
He  said  that  there  was  a  car-load  of  it.  As 
he  only  saw  it  boxed  away  ready  for  ship 
ment,  he  could,  of  course,  give  no  information 
as  to  the  amount  in  dollars  and  cents.  Gen 
eral  Beauregard,  however,  was  in  immediate 
command  at  Greensborough  while  the  Presi 
dent  was  there,  and  doubtless  had  an  oppor 
tunity  of  knowing  more  accurately  the  amount 
of  money  with  the  President  than  anyone  ex 
cept  the  President's  immediate  political  family. 


He  told  me  that  he  was  convinced  that  the 
President  had  $2,500,000  in  specie  at  Greens- 
borough.  I  have  no  doubt  that  General 
Beauregard's  estimate  was  within  bounds. 
After  Mr.  Davis  left  Charlotte  and  moved 
South,  a  Confederate  officer  told  me  that, 
while  standing  near  a  bridge  crossing  a  creek, 
a  man  rode  up  and  inspected  it.  He  said 
that  he  was  in  charge  of  the  President's 
money  train  and  wanted  to  see  if  the  bridge 
was  safe  or  not.  The  man  in  charge  told  the 
officer  he  had  twenty  wagon-loads  of  specie 
in  the  train.  This  would  be  in  perfect  har 
mony  with  Colonel  Paul's  statement,  that 
there  was  a  car-load  when  it  left  Richmond, 
and  with  General  Beauregard's,  that  there 
was  $2,500,000  at  Greensborough." 
"  What  became  of  the  money  ?  " 
"  That  I  am  unable  to  say.  Mr.  Davis  has 
never  given  any  satisfactory  account  of  it,  and, 
what  is  a  strange  thin  or  to  me,  is  the  Southern 

o  o 

people  here  never  held  him  to  an  account  for 
it.  The  $39,000  he  left  at  Greensborough 
the  soldiers  received.  Major  Moses,  an  at 
torney  now  living  in  Atlanta,  has  accounted 
for  $20,000  more.  A  short  time  before  the 
evacuation  of  Richmond  the  bankers  of  that 
city  placed  in  Mr.  Davis's  hands  $360,000  in 
specie  for  the  defence  of  the  city.  There  was 
never  any  service  rendered  for  this  money,  but 


GENERAL   JOSEPH  E.   JOHNSTON.         857 

when  Richmond  was  evacuated  it  was  trans 
ported  South  with  the  specie  belonging  to  the 
Confederacy.  A  committee  of  Richmond 
bankers  were  sent  to  receive  it.  At  Washing 
ton,  Ga.,  they  succeeded  in  getting  between 
$110,000  and  $120,000,  but  while  transporting 
it  home  it  was  captured  by  General  Wilson's 
cavalry  and  turned  into  the  United  States 
Treasury.  It  is  now  there  in  litigation.  The 
Richmond  bankers  are  suing  for  its  recovery, 
and  it  has  never  been  decided  to  whom  it  be 
longs.  Say  $120,000  of  it  is  there  and  $39,- 
ooo  in  the  military  chest  left  at  Greensbor- 
ough  for  the  army,  and  $20,000  accounted  for 
by  Major  Moses.  This  would  make  $179,000 
out  of  the  $2,500,000  which  General  Beaure- 
gard  and  other  good  authority  estimate  was 
on  hand." 

This  charge  of  General  Johnston  against 
the  integrity  of  Mr.  Davis  excited  intense  in 
dignation  all  over  the  South.  The  friends  of 
General  Johnston  refused  to  believe  he  had 
uttered  the  libel. 

Statements  made  by  officers  and  men  of 
the  Confederate  army,  and  from  many  in  the 
North,  each  reciting  his  personal  knowledge 
of  the  events  as  incorrectly  related  by  Gen 
eral  Johnston,  burdened  Mr.  Davis's  mail. 

To   the   editor  of  the   Philadelphia   Press, 
General  Johnston,  to  stay  the  whirlwind  he 


858  JEFFERSON  DAVIS. 

had  raised,  sent  the  following  so-called  "  dis 
claimer." 

"  To  the  Editor  of  the  Philadelphia  Press. 

"  DEAR  SIR  :  I  was  greatly  annoyed  by 
reading  the  article  in  your  paper  of  the  i8th 
inst.,  headed  '  General  Johnston's  Narrative/ 
and  signed  '  F.  A.  B.'  This  article  is  evident 
ly  based  on  a  conversation  which  I  did  not 
take  to  be  an  interview.  In  that  conversa 
tion,  therefore,  a  good  deal  was  said  which 
nothing  could  induce  me  to  say  for  publica 
tion,  notably  what  relates  to  Confederate 
treasure  at  Greensborough.  Besides  this,  the 
narrative  is  inaccurate,  so  much  so  that  I  will 
not  undertake  to  correct  it,  and  it  contains 
letters  which  not  only  did  not  come  from  me, 
but  which  have  not  been  in  my  possession  for 
years.  So  I  beg  you  to  publish  this  to  relieve 
me  of  responsibility  for  the  narrative. 
"  Most  respectfully  yours, 

"  J.  E.  JOHNSTON. 

"WASHINGTON,   December  20,    iSSi.'1 

In  this  so-called  "  disclaimer,"  General 
Johnston  shelters  himself  under  the  plea  that 
he  did  not  mean  to  make  his  slanderous  ac 
cusation  publicly,  but  he  did  not  deny  saying 
that  Mr.  Davis  appropriated  to  his  own  use 
two  millions  and  a  half  dollars  of  Confederate 


GENERAL    JOSEPH  E.    JOHNSTON.         §59 

treasure.  He  wrote  "  nothing  could  induce 
me  to  say  for  publication  "  what  he  did 
say. 

That  he  did  know  that  he  was  being  inter 
viewed  by  a  representative  of  the  Press,  as 
he  afterward  acknowledged,  the  following  let 
ter  from  Colonel  Frank  B\irr  will  show. 

"PHILADELPHIA,  August  20,  1885. 

"  HONORABLE  JEFFERSON  DAVIS. 

"  DEAR  SIR  :  Your  kind  note  of  a  recent 
date  received,  and  I  take  great  pleasure  in 
furnishing1  you  the  following  statement  of 

o      J  o 

facts  in  relation  to  my  interview  with  General 
Joseph  E.  Johnston,  published  in  the  Phila 
delphia  Press  of  some  years  ago  (1881),  to 
which  you  refer : 

"  Some  month  or  six  weeks  before  that  pub 
lication  was  made  I  was  on  my  way  South, 
and  on  the  train  met  General  Johnston. 
When  we  reached  Richmond  we  both  took 
the  same  omnibus  for  the  Exchange  Hotel. 
.  .  .  Later  in  the  day  I  met  him  in  the 
hotel,  and  we  entered  into  conversation  after 
dinner  about  general  matters.  I  said  to  him 
I  should  very  much  like  to  get  from  him 
a  good  story  of  his  surrender  to  Sherman,  not 
the  humdrum  details  that  appeared  in  the 
books,  but  such  a  story  of  it  as  a  man  would 
naturally  tell  in  conversation,  giving  all  the 


860  JEF PERSON  DAVIS. 

incidents,  frivolous  or  otherwise.  General 
Johnston  readily  assented  to  my  request,  and 
we  went  to  his  room.  Soon  after  your  book 
on  '  The  Rise  and  Fall  of  the  Confederate 
Government '  was  issued,  I  started  South  to 
review  it,  or  allow  prominent  soldiers  to 
review  it  in  a  series  of  interviews.  The  first 
man  I  visited  upon  this  mission  was  General 
Johnston,  and  I  printed  and  published  his 
criticisms  upon  your  work,  covering  some  two 
columns  and  a  half  of  the  Press.  Once  after 
that  interview,  and  before  the  time  of  which  I 
am  writing,  I  met  General  Johnston  again,  so 
that  before  our  accidental  meeting  on  the  cars 
my  character  and  occupation  were  thoroughly 
fixed  iipon  Jiis  mind*  Our  conversation  at 
the  first  interview  was  directed  solely  to  the 
military  operations  between  himself  and  Gen 
eral  Sherman  previous  to  the  surrender. 
Our  conversation  was  interrupted  by  a  busi 
ness  engagement  which  he  had  previously 
made,  and  I  left  him  with  the  understanding 
that  we  were  to  meet  again  to  finish  the  sub 
ject.  My  stenographer  was  travelling  with 
me,  so  immediately  after  our  first  conversa 
tion  I  went  and  dictated  it  while  it  was  fresh 
in  my  mind.  The  next  day  the  conversation 


*A11  the  italics  in  this  letter  are  the  author's.      The  omissions  are 
simply  unimportant  words  left  out  for  want  of  space. 


GENERAL    JOSEPH  E.    JOHNSTON.         86 1 

was  renewed  and  continued  for  some  time. 
When  I  left  General  Johnston  I  thanked  him 
for  the  courtesy  and  said  that,  as  this  was  an 
important  matter  and  one  which  I  hoped  to 
make  a  feature  of  my  trip,  I  should  be  glad  to 
submit  him  the  copy  for  revision  before  it  was 
printed.  He  said  no,  that  that  was  not 
necessary ;  that  my  former  treatment  of  him 
and  general  correctness  of  expression  were 
guarantee  enough  that  I  would  not  misrepre 
sent  him ;  and  he  added  jocularly,  that  '  no 
man  ought  to  make  a  statement  to  a  journalist 
that  he  was  not  willing  to  stand  by!  After  this 
at  the  table  our  conversation  was  renewed 
upon  various  matters,  and  we  parted,  he 
going  south  in  one  direction  and  I  in  the 
other.  Immediately  after  my  second  conver 
sation  with  him  I  dictated  my  impressions  of 
it,  as  well  as  General  Johnston's  own  state 
ments,  to  my  stenographer,  so  when  I  came  to 
make  up  the  article  I  had  the  expressions  as 
given  to  me  at  the  moment.  But  after  I  had 
written  the  article  and  recognized  its  impor 
tance,  I  wrote  a  letter  to  General  Johnston, 
saying  that  I  had  finished  the  article  and  that 
it  was  subject  to  his  order  for  revision,  or  any 
other  purpose  that  to  him  might  seem  meet. 
I  held  the  matter  two  weeks  after  this  letter 
was  mailed.  I  then  gave  the  order  for  its 
publication.  When  it  was  printed  and  the 


862  JEFFERSON  DAVIS. 

commotion  came,  the  Washington  correspon 
dent  of  the  New  York  World  made  General 
Johnston  say  in  an  interview  that  he  did  not 
know  me,  and  that  he  was  beguiled  into  the 
conversation  which  I  had  reported.  Without 
any  solicitation  on  my  part,  in  a  telegram  to 
the  editor  of  the  Philadelphia  Press,  General 
Johnston  denied  the  statement  made  by  the 
JVorlffs  writer,  and  expressed  his  full  under 
standing  of  my  character  and  purpose.  I  do 
not  think  that  it  is  possible  that,  to  anyone  and 
for  any  purpose,  General  Johnston  has  ever 
said  that  he  was  not  well  acquainted  with  me, 
and  thoroughly  understood  the  use  I  was  to 
make  of  what  he  said  to  me  upon  the  occasion 
to  which  I  herein  refer. 

"  I  have  been  thus  explicit,  Mr.  Davis,  that 
you  may  see  how  well  I  remember  the  small 
est  detail.  I  can  readily  recall  the  words 
that  were  spoken,  the  appearance  of  the  room, 
and  everything  in  relation  to  that  remarkable 
interview.  My  memory  is  tenacious  of  all 
matters  of  that  character,  and  especially  so  as 
to  this  one,  which  was  severely  impressed 
upon  my  mind  from  the  fact  that  there  were 
no  other  subjects  intruded  into  my  inquiry. 
In  the  North  here,  where  I  am  known,  I  think 
it  would  be  difficult  for  General  Johnston  or 
any  other  person  to  make  people  believe  that 
I  would  either  misrepresent  or  be  guilty  of  a 


GENERAL    JOSEPH  E.    JOHNSTON.          863 

breach    of  faith.     I    enclose    you    the    letter 
of  our  mutual  friend,  Senator  Hill. 

"  Very  sincerely, 
"  FRANK  A.  BURR." 

The  letter  of  Senator  Hill  is  not  needful  to 
Mr.  Davis's  vindication,  and  therefore  I  sup 
press  it,  though  if  desired  at  any  time  it  can 
be  made  public. 

Having,  by  the  letter  of  Colonel  Burr,  es 
tablished  the  fact  that  General  Johnston  did 
make  the  charge  against  Mr.  Davis,  knowing 
Colonel  Burr's  position  and  connection  with 
the  Press,  I  now  give  the  unsolicited  and 
spontaneous  testimony  of  men  who  were 
eye-witnesses  of  the  events  connected  with 
the  Confederate  treasure,  and  with  the  sepa 
ration  of  the  armies  and  cabinet  of  the  Con 
federacy. 

The  Honorable  John  H.  Reagan,  who  was 
the  last  Secretary  of  the  Confederate  Treas 
ury,  and  who  now  represents  Texas  in  the 
United  States  Senate,  wrote : 

"  Before  we  left  Washington,  Ga.,  the 
money  of  the  Richmond  banks,  which  I  un 
derstood  had  been  under  the  protection  of 
the  escort  for  the  protection  of  the  Confeder 
ate  money,  was  placed  under  the  exclusive 
control  of  the  agent  of  the  banks,  whose  name 
I  do  not  remember,  I  do  not  know  what 


864  JEFFERSON  DAVIS. 

became  of  it.  I  understood  from  the  verbal 
statement  of  Mr.  Trenholm,  on  his  turning 
over  the  business  of  the  Treasury  Depart 
ment  to  me,  that  there  was  in  the  Confederate 
Treasury  some  eighty- five  thousand  dollars 
in  gold  coin  and  bullion ;  some  thirty-five 
thousand  dollars  in  silver  coin  ;  about  thirty- 
six  thousand  dollars  in  silver  bullion,  and 
some  six  or  seven  hundred  thousand  in  Con 
federate  Treasury  notes  ;  besides  some  six 
teen  or  eighteen  thousand  pounds  sterling,  in 
Liverpool  acceptances. 

"  You  will  remember  that  the  silver  coin 
and  an  amount  of  gold  coin  about  equal  to  the 
silver  bullion,  was  paid  out  to  the  troops  be 
fore  they  or  the  money  reached  Washington. 
There  I  directed  an  acting  treasurer  to  turn 
over  to  two  of  our  naval  officers,  whose 
names  I  do  not  now  remember,  most  of  the 
gold  coin  and  bullion  ;  with  the  understand 
ing  between  us  all,  before  you  left  Washing 
ton,  that  as  soon  as  the  excitement  subsided 
a  little,  they  were  to  take  this  out  to  Ber 
muda  or  Liverpool,  and  turn  it  over  to  our 
agents,  that  we  might  draw  against  it  after  we 
should  get  across  the  Mississippi  River.  I 
directed  him  to  turn  the  silver  bullion  over  to 
Major  Moses,  as  it  was  too  bulky  and  heavy 
to  be  managed  by  us  in  our  then  condition  ; 
and  I  saw  Moses  putting  it  in  a  warehouse  in 


GENERAL    JOSEPH  E.    JOHNSTON.          865 

Washington  before  I  left  there.  I  also  di 
rected  him  to  burn  the  Confederate  notes  in 
the  presence  of  General  Breckinridge  and 
myself.  The  acceptances  on  Liverpool  were 
turned  over  to  me,  and  were  taken  by  the 
Federal  forces  with  my  other  papers  when  we 
were  captured.  You  were  not  captured  until 
several  days  after  the  disposition  of  all  these 
funds,  as  above  stated.  These  constitute,  as 
I  remember  them,  about  all  the  material  facts 
as  to  the  public  funds,  and  as  to  the  money 
of  the  Richmond  banks. 

"  The  slander  that  you  had  attempted  to 
escape  with  a  large  amount  of  funds,  was  at 
first  uttered  as  a  means  of  bringing  odium  on 
your  name,  and  on  the  Confederacy.  But  it 
has  become  stale  and  threadbare,  and  its  fal 
sity  so  generally  understood,  that  I  am  per 
suaded  a  further  denial  of  the  charges  would 
be  regarded  as  useless." 

As  General  Johnston  mentioned  in  effect 
that  General  Beauregard  was  one  of  the 
parties  who  had  knowledge  of  the  alleged 
facts,  General  Beauregard  stated  to  a  re 
porter  of  the  New  Orleans  Picayune  the  fol 
lowing  : 

"  General  Johnston  is  in  error,  for  no  re 
port  was  ever  made  to  me  of  the  amount  of 
Government  treasure  which  accompanied  or 
preceded  the  Government  from  Richmond, 

VOL.  II.— 55 


866  JEFFERSON  DAVIS. 

and  I  have  never  known  the  amount.  Just 
before  the  surrender  at  Greensborough,  we 
received  out  of  it  $37,000  in  silver,  which  was 
paid  out  per  capita  to  officers,  soldiers,  and 
employees  of  the  army,  each  one  receiving 
$1.15.  I  have  preserved  my  share,  intending 
having  a  small  medal  made  of  it  as  a  me 
mento  of  the  last  days  of  the  Confederacy.  I 
have  no  knowledge  of  what  became  of  the 
rest  of  the  amount,  whatever  it  may  have 
been,  that  the  Government  sent  away  or 
brought  away  from  Richmond." 

The  statement  of  Captain  M.  H.  Clark,  of 
Clarksville,  Tenn.,  who  was  acting  treasurer 
at  the  time  of  the  surrender,  is  very  full  and 
explicit.  It  was  given  in  the  Couriet- Jour 
nal,  Louisville,  Friday,  January  13,  1882.  and 
is  as  follows  : 

"  CLARKSVILLE,  TENN.,  January  loth. 

"  As  the  papers  of  late  have  been  full  of 
communications  from  ex-Confederates  in  re 
gard  to  the  Confederate  Treasury  matters, 
called  out  by  a  reported  interview  with  Gener 
al  J.  E.  Johnston  with  a  reporter  of  the  Phila 
delphia  Press,  and  as  I  have  it  in  my  power  to 
give  a  true  history  of  the  last  days  of  the  Con 
federate  Treasury  from  the  written  documents 
of  that  period  still  in  my  possession,  I  have 
decided  to  prevent  any  further  controversy, 
and  show  what  were  the  specie  assets  of  the 


GENERAL    JOSEPH  E.    JOHNSTON.          867 

Confederate  States  at  the  time  of  the  disso 
lution  of  its  Government. 

"  General  surprise  has  been  felt  at  General 
Johnston's  tardiness  in  disavowing  his  connec 
tion  with  the  unworthy  insinuations  against 
the  Confederate  President  and  Cabinet  in  the 
article  referred  to. 

"  I  will  state  as  briefly  as  possible  my  con 
nection  with  the  Confederate  Treasury. 

"  The  President  from  Danville  proceeded 
to  Charlotte,  N.  C.  We  arrived  at  Abbeville, 
S.  C.,  the  morning  of  May  2d.  At  Abbeville, 
S.  C.,  the  Treasury  officers  reported  the  train 
at  the  depot,  having  been  a  part  of  the  time  tin 
der  the  escort  of  Admiral  Raphael  Semmes's 
little  naval  force  to  protect  it  from  the  Feder 
al  cavalry,  who  were  raidihg  on  a  parallel  line 
with  our  route,  between  us  and  the  mountains. 
Mr.  G.  A.  Trenholm,  the  Secretary  of  the 
Treasury,  having  been  left  quite  ill  near  the 
Catawba  River,  the  President  appointed  the 
Postmaster-General,  Honorable  John  H.  Rea 
gan,  acting  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  who 
took  charge  of  that  Department,  and  placed 
the  coin  under  charge  of  the  cavalry  to  con 
voy  it  to  Washington,  Ga.  The  party  left 
for  Washington  that  night,  and  stopped  for 
breakfast  a  few  miles  from  Washington.  At 
our  breakfast  halt,  when  the  road  -was  taken, 
Mr.  Benjamin  came  to  me  and  said  '  good-by/ 


868  JEFFERSON  DAVIS. 

and  turned  off  south  from  that  point.  Mr. 
Mallory  left  the  party  at  Washington,  Ga., 
going  to  a  friend's  in  the  neighborhood. 

"  Next  morning  Colonel  William  Preston 
Johnston  informed  me  that  Mr.  Reagan  had 
applied  for  me  to  act  as  Treasurer,  to  take 
charge  of  the  Treasury  matters,  and  I  was  or 
dered  to  report  to  him,  and  doing  so,  was 
handed  my  commission,  which  is  now  before 
me  and  reads  as  follows,  viz.  : 

"'WASHINGTON,  GA.,  May  4,  1865. 

"  '  M.  H.  Clark,  Esq.,  is  hereby  appointed 
Acting  Treasurer  of  the  Confederate  States, 
and  is  authorized  to  act  as  such  during  the 
absence  of  the  Treasurer. 

"'  JEFFERSON  DAVIS.' 

[This  was  the  last  official  signature  Pres 
ident  Davis  affixed  to  any  paper.] 

"  Returning  to  my  train  to  get  some  neces 
sary  articles,  President  Davis  rode  up  with 
his  party,  when ,  what  I  supposed  were  fare 
well  words  were  passed  between  us,  and  my 
train,  under  charge  of  its  Quartermaster, 
moved  out.  The  Treasury  train  arrived 
shortly  after  President  Davis's  party  left,  and 
being  reported  at  General  Basil  W.  Duke's 
camp,  about  a  mile  from  town,  I  went  there 
with  the  proper  authority,  and  he  turned  the 
whole  of  it  over  to  me.  Selecting  the  shade 


GENERAL    JOSEPH  E.    JOHNSTON.         869 

of  a  large  elm-tree  as  the  '  Treasury  Depart 
ment/  I  commenced  my  duties  as  '  Acting 
Treasurer  C.  S.' 

"  Now  for  the  specie  of  the  Treasury. 

"  It  must  be  remembered  that  a  month  or 
more  before  the  evacuation  of  Richmond, 
Va.,  for  the  relief  of  the  people,  the  Treasury 
Department  had  opened  its  depositories  and 
had  been  selling  silver  coin,  the  rate  being 
fixed  at  $60  for  $i  in  coin.  While  at  Dan 
ville,  Va.,  the  Treasury  Department  resumed 
these  sales,  the  rate  there  being  $70  for  $i. 

"  Abbut  $40,000  in  silver,  generally  report 
ed  (and  no  doubt  correctly)  at  $39,000,  was 
left  at  Greensborough,  N.  C.,  as  a  military 
chest  for  the  forces  there,  under  charge  of  the 
Treasurer,  Mr.  John  C.  Hendren  ;  all  of  the 
balance  was  turned  into  my  hands,  which 
amounted,  in  gold  and  silver  coin,  gold  and 
silver  bullion,  to  $288,022.90.  Adding  the 
$39,000  left  at  Greensborough,  N.  C.,  the 
Treasury  contained  in  coin  and  bullion,  when 
it  left  Danville,  Va.,  $327,022.90. 

"  If  the  Treasury  at  Richmond  had  con 
tained  $2,500,000  in  coin,  certainly  the  brave 
men  of  our  armies  would  never  have  suffered 
so  severely  from  want  of  sufficient  food  and 
clothing  as  they  did  during  the  winter  of  1864- 
65,  for  it  had  been  demonstrated  that  gold 
could  draw  food  and  raiment  from  without 


870  JEFFERSON  DAVIS. 

the  lines.  With  the  train  at  Washington,  Ga., 
however,  was  the  specie  belonging"  to  the  Vir 
ginia  banks,  which  some  time  before  had  been 
ordered  to  be  turned  over  to  their  officers,  who 
had  accompanied  it  out  from  Richmond,  and 
had  never  left  it ;  but  the  proper  officer  had 
not  been  present  to  make  the  transfer.  It 
had  never  been  mixed  with  the  Treasury 
funds,  but  kept  apart  and  distinct,  and  when 
Acting  Secretary  Reagan  ordered  the  transfer 
to  be  made,  no  handling  of  specie  or  counting 
was  necessary,  but  merely  permission  for  the 
cashiers  and  tellers  to  take  control  bf  their 
own  matters.  I  knew  them  all  personally,  but 
my  impression  is  that  it  was  about  $230,000. 
General  E.  P.  Alexander  has  already  given 
in  your  columns  the  after-fate  of  this  fund. 

"  While  at  Washington,  Ga.,  communica 
tions  were  received  from  General  John  C. 
Breckinridge,  that  payments  had  been  prom 
ised  by  him  to  the  cavalry  from  the  train. 
General  Breckinridge's  action  was  ratified, 
and  President  Davis  gave  some  other  direc 
tions  before  he  left.  General  Breckinridge 
arrived  in  Washington,  Ga.,  an  hour  or  so 
after  President  Davis  left.  My  recollection 
of  his  statement  was  that  during  the  night  of 
the  3d,  en  route  from  Abbeville,  S.  C.,  to 
Washington,  Ga.,  he  found  the  cavalry  and 
train  at  a  halt,  resting.  Stopping,  he  learned 


GENERAL    JOSEPH  E.    JOHNSTON.         871 

from  the  officers  that  the  men  were  dissatis 
fied  at  the  position  of  affairs  ;  that  they  were 
guarding-  a  train  which  could  not  be  carried 
safely  much  farther  ;  the  Federal  cavalry  were 
known  to  be  in  full  force  not  a  great  distance 
off;  the  destination  and  disposition  of  their 
own  force  was  an  uncertain  one  ;  their  paper 
money  was  worthless  for  their  needs  ;  that 
they  might  never  reach  Washington,  Ga., 
with  it,  etc.  A  crowd  gathered  around,  when 
General  Breckinridge  made  them  a  little 
speech,  appealing  to  their  honor  as  Confed 
erate  soldiers  not  to  violate  the  trust  reposed 
in  them,  but  to  remain  Southern  soldiers  and 
gentlemen  ;  and  that  when  they  reached 
Washington  with  the  train  fair  payments 
should  be  made. 

''The  men  responded  frankly,  saying  they 
proposed  to  violate  no  trust ;  they  would 
guard  it,  but  expressed  what  they  considered 
due  to  them  in  the  matter ;  and,  as  they 
would  be  paid  some  money  in  Washington, 
Ga.,  and  no  one  could  tell  what  would  hap 
pen  before  they  reached  Washington,  there 
was  no  good  reason  for  delay. 

"  General  Breckinridge  replied  that,  if  they 
wished  an  instant  compliance  with  his  prom 
ise,  he  would  redeem  it  at  once,  and  ordered 
up  the  train  to  the  house  at  which  he  had 
stopped,  and  had  the  wagons  unloaded  ;  the 


872  JEFFERSON  DAVIS. 

quartermasters  being  ordered  to  make  out 
their  pay-rolls,  when  a  certain  amount  was 
counted  out  and  turned  over  to  the  proper 
officers.  The  wagons  were  then  reloaded, 
and  the  route  was  taken  up  to  Washington, 
Ga.  The  boys  told  me  they  got  about  twen 
ty-six  dollars  apiece  ;  enough,  they  hoped,  to 
take  them  through. 

"  It  is  this  transaction  which  has  produced 
so  many  contradictory  statements  from  men 
and  officers,  many  seeing  nothing  more,  and 
regarding  it  as  the  final  disbursing  of  the  Con 
federate  specie.  Proper  receipts  were  given 
and  taken  at  the  time,  and  I  rated  it  as  if 
disbursed  by  myself,  and  covered  it  into  the 
Treasury  accounts  by  the  paper  of  which  be 
low  is  a  copy  : 

"  '  CONFEDERATE  STATES  OF  AMERICA, 
'"WASHINGTON,  GA.,  May  4,  1865. 

"  '  HONORABLE  J.   C.  BRECKINRIDGE, 

"  '  Secretary  of  War  : 

"  '  There  is  required  for  payment  of  troops 
now  on  the  march  through  Georgia,  the  sum 
of  one  hundred  and  eight  thousand  three 
hundred  and  twenty-two  dollars  and  ninety 
cents  ($ro8,322.9o),  to  be  placed  to  the 
credit  of  Major  E.  C.  White,  Quartermaster. 
"  '  A.  R.  LAWTON, 

"  '  Quartermaster -General! 
(Indorsed.) 


GENERAL    JOSEPH  E.    JOHNSTON.         873 

"  '  The  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  will 
please  issue  as  requested. 

"'JOHN  C.  BRECKINRIDGE, 

'•'  '  Secretary  of  War' 
(Indorsed.) 

"  '  M.  H.  Clark,  Acting  Treasurer,  will  turn 
over   to    Major    E.     C.     White    the    amount 
named     within,     preserving     the     necessary 
vouchers,    warrant    hereafter    to    be    drawn 
when  settlement  can  be  regularly  made. 
"  '  JOHN  H.  REAGAN, 
"  '  Acting  Secretary  of  Treasury! 
(Indorsed.) 

"'WASHINGTON,  GA.,  May  4,  1865. 

"  '  Received  of  M.  H.  Clark,  Acting  Treas 
urer,  C.  S.,  the  sum  of  one  hundred  and  eight 
thousand  three  hundred  and  twenty-two  dol 
lars  and  ninety  cents  ($108,322.90)  in  specie, 
the  amount  called  for  by  within  paper/ 

"  I  obtained  permission  from  General 
Breckinridge  and  Mr.  Reagan  to  burn  a 
mass  of  currency  and  bonds,  and  burnt  mill 
ions  in  their  presence. 

"  Before  reaching  town  I  was  halted  by 
Major  R.  J.  Moses,  to  turn  over  to  him  the 
specie  which  President  Davis,  before  he  left, 
had  ordered  to  be  placed  at  the  disposal  of 


874  JEFFERSON  DAVIS. 

the  Commissary  Department,  to  feed  the  pa 
roled  soldiers  and  stragglers  passing  through, 
to  prevent  their  burdening  a  section  already 
stripped  of  supplies.  I  turned  over  to  Major 
Moses  the  wagons  and  silver  bullion,  and  all 
of  the  escort  except  about  ten  men. 

"  In  my  statement  of  the  specie  assets  of 
the  Treasury  being  $288,022.90,  I  counted  the 
payment  to  Major  Moses  as  being  $40,000. 

"  My  last  payment  in  Washington,  Ga., 
was  of  eighty-six  thousand  dollars  ($86,000) 
in  gold  coin  and  gold  bullion,  to  a  trusted  offi 
cer  of  the  navy,  taking  his  receipt  for  its  trans 
mission  out  of  the  Confederacy,  to  be  held 
for  the  Treasury  Department.  .  .  . 

"  Judge  Reagan  and  myself  left  Washing 
ton,  Ga. 

"  I  found  the  party,  consisting  of  the  Presi 
dent  and  staff,  and  a  few  others,  Captain  Given 
Campbell  and  twelve  of  his  men,  near  Sand- 
ersville,  Ga.  There  the  President  heard 
disturbing  reports  from  Mrs.  Davis's  party, 
they  fearing  attempts  to  steal  their  horses  by 
stragglers,  and  decided  next  morning  to  take 
his  staff  and  join  her  party  for  a  few  days.  As 
"  everything  on  wheels  "  was  to  be  abandoned 
by  him,  I  remained  with  my  train,  the  chances 
of  the  capture  of  which  were  steadily  increas 
ing.  I  inquired  as  to  the  funds  of  the  staff, 
and  found  that  they  had  only  a  small  amount 


GENERAL    JOSEPH  E.    JOHNSTON.         875 

of  paper  currency  each,  except,  perhaps,  Col 
onel  F.  R.  Lubbock,  A.  D.  C,  who  had,  I 
believe,  a  little  specie  of  his  private  funds. 
Colonel  William  Preston  Johnston  told  me 
that  the  President's  purse  contained  paper 
money  only.  I  represented  to  them  that  they 
would  need  money  for  their  supplies  en  route, 
and  to  buy  boats  in  Florida,  etc.,  and  that  I 
wished  to  pay  over  to  them  funds  to  be  used 
for  those  purposes,  and  they  consented.  I 
paid,  with  the  concurrence  of  Honorable  John 
H.  Reagan,  the  Acting  Secretary  of  the 
Treasury,  $1,500  in  gold  each  to  Colonel  John 
Taylor  Wood,  A.  D.  C.;  Colonel  William 
Preston  Johnston,  A.  D.  C.  ;  Colonel  F.  R. 
Lubbock,  A.  D.  C.,  and  Colonel  C.  E.  Thor- 
burn  (a  naval  purchasing  agent  who  was  with 
the  party),  taking  a  receipt  from  each  one  ; 
but  as  they  were  all  of  the  same  verbiage,  I 
merely  give  one,  as  follows  : 

"  '  SANDERSVILLE,  GA.,  May  6,  1865. 

"  '  $1,500.  Received  of  M.  H.  Clark,  Act 
ing  Treasurer  C.  S.,  fifteen  hundred  dollars 
($1,500)  in  gold  coin,  the  property  of  the 
Confederate  States,  for  transmission  abroad, 
of  the  safe  arrival  of  which  due  notice  to  be 
given  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury.'. 

"  I  also  paid  to  each  $10  in  silver  for  small 
uses,  from  a  little  executive  office  fund,  which 


876  JEFFERSON  DA  VIS. 

I  had  obtained  in  Danville,  Va.,  by  convert 
ing  my  paper  when  the  Treasurer  was  selling 
silver  there.  For  this  I  took  no  receipt, 
charging  it  in  my  office  accounts.  I  also 
called  up  Captain  Given  Campbell  and  paid 
him,  for  himself  and  men,  $300  in  gold,  tak 
ing  the  following  receipt : 

"  '  Received  of  M.  H.  Clark,  Acting  Treas 
urer  C.  S.,  three  hundred  dollars  ($300)  in 
gold,  upon  requisition  of  Colonel  John  Taylor 
Wood,  A.  D.  C. 

"  '  GIVEN  CAMPBELL, 

"  (  Captain    Company   B.,   Second  Kentucky 
Cavalry,   Williams  s  Brigade! 

"  I  then  went  to  Judge  Reagan  with  a  bag 
containing  thirty-five  hundred  dollars  ($3,- 
500)  in  gold,  and  asked  that  he  take  it  in  his 
saddle-bags  as  an  additional  fund  in  case  of 
accidents  or  separation.  He  resisted,  saying 
that  he  was  already  weighted  by  some  $2,- 
ooo  of  his  own  personal  funds,  which  he  had 
brought  out  from  Richmond,  Va.,  in  a  belt 
around  his  person  ;  but  after  some  argument 
on  my  part  he  allowed  me  to  put  it  in  his 
saddle-bags.  The  party  then  were  already 
on  horse,  and  '  Good-by  '  was  said. 

"  The  President's  party  was  captured  a  few 
days  afterward,  and  upon  their  release  from 


GENERAL    JOSEPH  E.    JOHNSTON.         877 

prison  several  of  the  party  told  me  that  every 
one  was  robbed  of  all  they  had,  except  Col 
onel  F.  R.  Lubbock,  who,  after  stout  resist 
ance  and  great  risk,  retained  his  money,  upon 
which  the  party  subsisted  during  their  long 
imprisonment  at  Fort  Delaware.  No  gold 
was  found  on  President  Davis  when  captured, 
for  he  had  none.  He  could  only  have  re 
ceived  it  through  me,  and  I  paid  him  none. 
The  Treasury  train  was  never  with  President 
Davis's  party.  They  found  it  at  Abbeville, 
S.  C.,  rode  away  and  left  it  there,  and  rode 
away  from  Washington,  Ga.,  shortly  after  its 
arrival  there,  while  it  was  being  turned  over 
to  me.  It  will  have  been  noted  that  the  re 
ceipts  quoted  are  of  two  classes — payments 
to  troops  and  clerks  for  their  own  services ; 
but  to  officers  of  higher  rank,  like  Generals 
Bragg  and  Breckinridge,  or  to  members  of 
the  President's  military  family,  they  were  for 
transmission  to  a  distance,  to  be  afterward  ac 
counted  for  to  the  Treasury  Department. 

"  The  old  Confederates  brought  nothing 
out  of  the  war,  save  honor  ;  for  God's  sake, 
and  the  precious  memory  of  the  dead,  let  us 
preserve  that  untarnished,  and  defend  it  from 
slanderous  insinuations.  To  do  my  part,  I 
have  spoken.  "  M.  H.  CLARK, 

"  Ex- Captain   P.  A.    C.    S.,  and 
ex- Acting  Treasurer  C.  S.  A" 


878  JEFFERSON  DAVIS. 

Although  there  are  many  more  statements, 
letters,  etc.,  in  my  possession  respecting  Gen 
eral  Johnston's  charge,  and  unfortunately  lack 
of  space  has  forced  me  to  condense  Colonel 
Clark's  statement  too  closely,  for  the  same 
reason  I  will  present  but  one  more,  that  of 
Colonel  W.  Preston  Johnston,  who. was  aide 
to  the  President,  and  with  it  submit  the  case. 

"  LOUISIANA  STATE  UNIVERSITY, 

"BATON  ROUGK,  LA.,  January  6,  1882. 

"  GENERAL  JOSEPH  R.  DAVIS,  New  Orleans, 

La. 

"  MY  DEAR  SIR  :  Your  letter  of  December 
29th,  in  relation  to  an  alleged  interview  of 
General  Joseph  E.  Johnston  reflecting  upon 
President  Davis,  has  been  received.  I  was 
greatly  surprised  when  I  first  saw  the  report 
of  the  interview  ;  but  still  more  so  when  I 
found  that  General  Johnston  did  not  contra 
dict  it  with  an  emphatic  denial.  If  I  had  sup 
posed  that  its  insinuations  required  disproof, 
or  that  they  would  not  be  met  by  witnesses 
more  fully  informed  than  myself,  I  certainly 
should  have  promptly  published  such  knowl 
edge  as  I  had.  I  rested  so  secure  in  the  uni 
versal  confidence  of  friend  and  foe  in  Presi 
dent  Davis's  integrity  and  patriotic  self-abne 
gation,  that  I  felt  he  might,  in  the  future  as  in 
the  past,  oppose  his  unsullied  record  against 


GENERAL    JOSEPH  E.    JOHNSTON.         879 

a  world  of  calumny.  This  unworthy  charge 
has,  as  I  anticipated,  called  forth  detailed 
statements  from  a  multitude  of  persons  cogni 
zant  of  the  facts,  whose  concurrent  testimony 
presents  an  irrefragable  record.  It  has,  fur 
thermore,  elicited  even  from  partisans  of 
General  Johnston  a  response  which  evinces 
that  President  Davis's  honor  is  as  dear  to  each 
Southern  heart  as  its  own. 

"  I  accompanied  President  Davis  from 
Richmond  till  his  capture.  At  Greensborough, 
N.  C.,  I  accepted  a  loan  of  $100  in  gold, 
pressed  upon  me  by  a  friend,  as  I  had  only 
Confederate  money.  I  used  this  to  pay  the 
expenses  of  our  military  family.  The  sum 
was  not  quite  exhausted  when  we  were  cap 
tured,  as  our  incidental  expenses  were  small. 
Having  been  an  inmate  of  President  Davis's 
house,  as  well  as  a  member  of  his  military 
family,  I  know  that  he  came  out  of  the  war  a 
poor  man. 

"  I  knew  that  $20  or  $36  were  distributed 
to  each  soldier.  I  was  told  by  someone  at 
Washington  to  draw  that  amount,  but  was  too 
much  engaged  to  do  so. 

"  After  leaving  Washington,  when  Presi 
dent  Davis  determined  to  part  company  with 
the  wagon  train,  Major  Van  Benthuysen,  who 
had  charge  of  it,  handed  me  $1,200  to  trans 
port  and  took  my  receipt  for  it.  I  regarded 


88o  JEFFERSON  DA  VIS. 

it  as  a  trust  to  be  employed,  if  necessary,  in 
getting  our  party  to  the  Trans-Mississippi 
Department.  I  am  of  the  opinion  that  our 
party  received  from  Major  Van  Benthuysen 
some  $5,000  or  $6,000,  but  am  not  fully  ad 
vised.  This  full  sum  of  $1,200  was  taken 
from  my  holsters  by  men  of  the  Second  Michi 
gan  Regiment  when  I  was  captured.  I  am 
quite  sure  that  President  Davis  could  not 
have  carried  much  money  about  him,  as  he 
handed  me  his  derringer  to  carry,  being  too 
feeble  to  endure  its  weight. 

"  But  there  is  no  ground  for  argument  with 
any  man  who  impugns  the  personal  integrity 
of  Jefferson  Davis.  The  charge  recoils  upon 
the  author.  For  twenty  years,  President 
Davis  has  breasted  a  storm  of  obloquy  and 
calumny  from  every  quarter.  Yet,  to-day,  he 
stands  unscathed,  the  representative  man  of 
the  most  glorious  epoch  of  Southern  history, 
so  that  in  all  our  part  of  the  Union  it  is  hard 
to  find  a  man  who  has  done  his  duty  by  his 
country  who  would  not  prefer  a  word  of  ap 
proval  from  his  lips  to  a  crown  of  gold  from 
the  hand  of  the  best  of  his  detractors. 

"  Of  course,  no  word  from  me  can  add  any 
thing  to  the  lustre  of  President  Davis's  repu 
tation  in  the  eyes  of  those  whose  good  opin 
ion  we  chiefly  value.  But,  as  I  am  putting 
myself  on  record,  I  must  permit  myself  to  say 


GENERAL    JOSEPH  E.    JOHNSTON.         88 1 

that,  having  stood  so  near  him  for  four  years 
that  no  veil  to  his  character  was  possible, 
even  if  he  had  wished  it,  he  has  left  upon  my 
mind  an  ineffaceable  image  of  knightly  purity, 
of  public  rectitude,  of  undeviating  patriotism, 
and  of  moral  grandeur  which  I  shall  forever 
cherish  as  a  consolation  in  adversity  and  de 
feat,  and  as  a  standard  and  ideal  for  myself 
and  my  countrymen. 

"  I  am,  my  dear  sir,  very  sincerely  yours, 
"  WILLIAM  PRESTON  JOHNSTON." 

VOL.  II.— 56 


CHAPTER   LXXXI. 

THE    PROHIBITION    ISSUE. 

IN  1887  the  repose  of  Mr.  Davis's  life  was 
grievously  disturbed  by  the  question  of  prohi 
bition,  which  became  a  prominent  issue  in  the 
politics  of  Texas.  A  constitutional  amend 
ment  to  prohibit  the  manufacture  or  the  sale 
of  any  intoxicating  liquors,  including  wine,  ale, 
and  beer,  was  to  be  submitted  to  popular 
vote.  Scores  of  letters  from  Mr.  Davis's 
friends  in  Texas  besought  an  expression  of 
opinion  by  him.  Mr.  Davis  declined  to  an 
swer,  as  he  had  no  desire  to  come,  even  in 
directly,  before  the  public  again.  Finally, 
after  a  most  urgent  letter  from  his  life-long 
and  much-beloved  friend,  Colonel  F.  R.  Lub- 
bock,  he  consented  to  write  a  letter  for  publi 
cation. 

It  is  as  follows : 
> 

"  BEAUVOIR,  Miss.,  June  20,  1887. 

"  COLONEL  F.  R.  LUBBOCK. 

"  MY  DEAR  FRIEND.  .  .  .  My  reason 
for  not  replying  was  an  unwillingness  to  en- 


THE  PROHIBITION  ISSUE.  883 

ter  into  a  controversy  in  which  my  friends  in 
Texas  stood  arrayed  against  each  other. 

"  In  departing  from  the  rule  heretofore  ob 
served,  I  trust  that  it  will  not  be  an  unwar 
rantable  intrusion. 

"  Reared  in  the  creed  of  Democracy,  my 
faith  in  its  tenets  has  grown  with  its  growth, 
and  I  adhere  to  the  maxim  that  '  the  world  is 
governed  too  much/ 

"  When  our  fathers  achieved  their  inde 
pendence,  the  corner-stone  of  the  govern 
ments  they  constructed  was  individual  lib 
erty,  and  the  social  organizations  they  estab 
lished  were  not  for  the  surrender,  but  for  the 
protection,  of  natural  rights.  For  this,  gov 
ernments  were  established  deriving  their  just 
powers  from  the  consent  of  the  governed. 
This  was  not  to  subject  themselves  to  the 
will  of  the  majority,  as  appears  from  the  fact 
that  each  community  inserted  in  its  funda 
mental  law  a  bill  of  rights  to  guard  the  in 
alienable  privileges  of  the  individual. 

"  There  was  then  a  two-fold  purpose 
in  Government:  protection  and  prevention 
against  trespass  by  the  strong  upon  the 
weak,  the  many  on  the  few. 

"  The  world  had  long  suffered  from  the  op 
pressions  of  government  under  the  pretext 
of  ruling  by  divine  right,  and  excusing  the 
invasion  into  private  and  domestic  affairs  on 


884  JEFFERSON  DAVIS. 

the  plea  of  paternal  care  for  the  morals  and 
good  order  of  the  people. 

"  Our  sires  rejected  all  such  pretensions, 
their  system  being  :  Government  by  the  peo 
ple  for -the  people,  and  resting  on  the  basis 
of  natural  inalienable  rights.  Upon  the  basis 
of  these  general  propositions  I  will  briefly  an 
swer  the  inquiry  in  regard  to  the  prohibition 
amendment  at  issue. 

"  '  Be  ye  temperate  in  all  things/  was  a 
wise  injunction,  and  would  apply  to  intoler 
ance  as  well  as  to  drunkenness.  That  the  in 
temperate  use  of  intoxicating  liquors  is  an 
evil,  few,  if  any,  would  deny. 

"  That  it  is  the  root  of  many  social  disor 
ders  is  conceded,  but  then  the  question 
arises,  what  is  the  appropriate  remedy,  and 
what  the  present  necessity  ?  To  destroy  indi 
vidual  liberty  and  moral  responsibility  would 
be  to  eradicate  one  evil  by  the  substitution  of 
another,  which  it  is  submitted  would  be  more 
fatal  than  that  for  which  it  was  offered  as  a 
remedy.  The  abuse,  and  not  the  use,  of  stim 
ulants,  it  must  be  confessed,  is  the  evil  to  be 
remedied.  Then  it  clearly  follows  that  action 
should  clearly  be  directed  against  the  abuse 
rather  than  the  use.  If  drunkenness  be  the 
cause  of  disorder  and  crime,  why  not  pro 
nounce  drunkenness  itself  to  be  a  crime,  and 
attach  to  it  proper  and  adequate  penalties  ? 


PROHIBITION  ISSUE.  885 

If  it  be  objected  that  the  penalties  could  not  be 
enforced,  that  is  an  admission  that  popular 
opinion  would  be  opposed  to  the  law  ;  but  if 
it  be  true  that  juries  could  not  be  impanelled 
who  would  convict  so  degraded  a  criminal  as 
a  drunkard,  it  necessarily  follows  that  a  statu 
tory  prohibition  against  the  sale  and  use  of 
intoxicants  would  be  a  dead  letter. 

"  The  next  branch  of  the  inquiry  is  as  to 
the  present  necessity. 

"  I  might  appeal  to  men  not  as  old  as  my 
self  to  sustain  the  assertion  that  the  convivial 
use  of  intoxicants,  and  the  occurrence  of 
drunkenness,  had  become  less  frequent  with 
in  the  last  twenty  years  than  it  was  before. 
The  refining  influences  of  education  and 

o 

Christianity  may  be  credited  with  this  result. 
Why  not  allow  these  blessed  handmaidens  of 
virtue  and  morality  to  continue  unembarrassed 
in  their  civilizing  work.  The  parties  to  this 
discussion  in  your  State  have  no  doubt 
brought  forward  the  statistical  facts  in  regard 
to  the  effect  produced  in  other  States  by  this 
effort  to  control  morals  by  legislation,  and  I 
will  not  encumber  this  letter  by  any  reference 
to  those  facts. 

"  You  have  already  provision  for  local  pro 
hibition.  If  it  has  proven  the  wooden  horse 
in  which  a  disguised  enemy  to  State  sover 
eignty  as  the  guardian  of  individual  liberty 


886  JEFFERSON  DA  MS. 

was  introduced,  then  let  it  be  a  warning  that 
the  progressive  march  would  probably  be 
from  village  to  State,  and  from  State  to 
United  States. 

"  A  Governmental  supervision  and  paternity, 
instead  of  the  liberty  the  heroes  of  17/6  left 
as  a  legacy  to  their  posterity.  Impelled  by 
the  affection  and  gratitude  I  feel  for  the  peo 
ple  of  Texas,  and  the  belief  that  a  great  ques 
tion  of  American  policy  is  involved  in  the  is 
sue  you  have  before  you,  the  silence  I  had 
hoped  to  observe  has  been  broken.  If  the 
utterance  shall  avail  anything  for  good,  it 
will  compensate  me  for  the  objurgations  with 
which  I  shall  doubtless  be  pursued  by  the 
followers  of  popularism  of  the  day. 

"  I  hope  the  many  who  have  addressed  me 
letters  of  inquiry  on  the  same  subject  will  ac 
cept  this  as  an  answer,  though  somewhat 
long  delayed.  Faithfully  yours, 

fi  JEFFERSON  DAVIS." 

"  I  certify  that  the  foregoing  is  a  true  copy 
of  the  original  received  by  me,  and  now  in  my 
possession.  *  F.  R.  LUBBOCK. 

"July  23,  1887." 

This  letter,  widely  published,  aroused  the 
antagonism  of  the  partisans  of  prohibition, 
who  knew  that  it  would  probably  result,  as 
later  it  did,  in  their  defeat  at  the  polls. 


THE  PROHIBITION  ISSUE.  887 

Shortly  after  the  letter  was  published,  it 
was  announced  that  Mr.  Davis  favored  a  pro 
hibition  policy,  because  at  a  camp  meeting  he 
had  worn  a  temperance  badge  and  compli 
mented  one  of  the  lady  orators  ! 

In  a  letter  to  Reverend  W.  M.  Leftwich, 
dated  Beauvoir,  August  24,  1887,  Mr.  Davis 
thus  disposed  of  this  absurd  electioneering 
trick : 

"  Though  we  may  disagree  as  to  the  best 
remedies  against  intemperance,  'we  cannot 
differ  as  to  the  desirability  of  its  suppression, 
and  I  would  be  least  of  all  willing  that  you 
should  attribute  to  me  such  laxity  of  opinion 
as  would  permit  a  change  of  position  without 
anything  to  justify  it. 

"  My  letter  to  Governor  Lubbock  of  July 
2Oth,  I  must  insist,  is  too  plain  to  be  of  differ 
ent  construction.  Four  days  after  it  was 
written  I  went  to  the  sea-shore  camp  ground, 
and  after  the  morning  service  was  invited  to 
dinner,  and  sat  next  to  Mrs.  .Chapin  at  the 
table.  She  was  to  lecture  in  the  afternoon, 
and  very  naturally  led  our  conversation  to 
the  subject  of  which  she  is  a  zealous  advo 
cate.  Agreeing  as  we  did  in  regard  to  the 
evil  of  intemperance,  we  differed  widely  as  to 
the  proper  and  practicable  remedies.  At  the 
close  of  the  dinner  I  felt  that  I  had  been  more 


888  JEFFERSON  DA  tf/£ 

positive  in  my  remarks  to  her  than  was  need 
ful,  considering  that  my  antagonist  was  a  lady. 
A  friend  who  sat  very  near  to  us  subsequent 
ly  told  me  that  I  was  rather  hard.  I  could 
only  say  that  I  did  not  mean  to  be  discourte 
ous,  though  anxious  to  be  exactly  understood. 
In  the  afternoon  I  listened  attentively  to  the 
lecture  ;  it  was  an  eloquent  description  of  the 
sufferings  of  women  and  children  as  a  conse 
quence  of  the  drunkenness  of  husbands  and 
fathers.  No  specific  remedy  was  proposed, 
and  after  she  had  closed  her  lecture  and  left 
the  pulpit,  I  congratulated  her  on  her  address, 
and  expressed  my  entire  concurrence  with  the 
sentiments  she  had  uttered.  My  letter  to 
Governor  Lubbock,  written  four  days  previ 
ously,  was  fresh  in  my  mind  ;  it  conveyed  my 
deliberate  opinion,  and  I  did  not  then,  nor 
do  I  now,  see  any  conflict  between  the  senti 
ments  of  that  letter  and  those  which  Mrs. 
Chapin  had  more  forcibly  expressed. 

"  Pleased  at  my  congratulations,  she  asked 
me  to  write  my  name  in  her  book.  Not 
knowing  what  all  this  might  imply,  I  de 
clined.  She  offered  me  the  badge  she  wore  ; 
this  I  declined  also,  because  I  did  not  know 
the  creed  and  canons  of  the  order,  and  could 
not  accept  its  emblem — declining,  however, 
with  a  pleasant  courtesy  and  deference  which 
is  habitual  with  me  to  a  lady. 


THE  PROHIBITION  ISSUE,  889 

"  She  had  learned  from  Miss  Willard  the 
sympathy  my  wife  felt  with  the  efforts  of  the 
Woman's  Christian  Temperance  Union,  and 
proposed  that  I  should  take  the  badge  to  Mrs. 
Davis.  I  made  no  objection,  and  she  trans 
ferred  the  badge  she  wore  to  the  lapel  of  my 
coat.  I  wore  it  to  my  home  and  delivered  it 
with  the  message  to  my  wife,  who  acknowl 
edged  it  in*  a  personal  letter  to  Mrs.  Chapin, 
which  she  published. 

"  I  saw  no  evil,  and  hoped  much  good,  from 
the  measure  of  local  option  by  which  public 
opinion  and  law  would  go  hand  in  hand  in  a 
homogeneous  group  of  people  ;  but  when  it 
was  proposed  to  extend  such  narrow  sumptu 
ary  measures  as  were  proposed  in  the  Texas 
amendment,  and  instead  of  a  village,  town,  or 
magistrate's  beat,  to  embrace  a  whole  State  ; 
and,  further,  when  I  heard  that  petitions  were 
in  circulation  for  prohibiting  enactments  by 
the  Congress  of  the  United  States,  there 
loomed  up  a  gigantic  monster  before  which 
the  liberties  our  fathers  left  us  could  offer  but 
a  vain  resistance.  As  it  is,  the  law  and  the 
Federal  Administration  are  bound  to  prefer 
Union  soldiers  in  all  selections  for  Federal  of 
fice.  First  we  were  to  have  sumptuary  legisla 
tion,  dictated  by  the  majority  against  us,  a  per 
manent  minority  in  the  Union  ;  and,  to  enforce 
it,  domiciliary  visits  by  strangers  to  our  people. 


890  JEFFERSON  DAVIS. 

"  You  and  all  others  who  remember  the 
events  in  the  closing  years  of  the  war  and 
the  period  of  reconstruction,  will  require  no 
words  to  enforce  the  horrors  of  a  condition 
which  should  expose  our  people  to  spies,  in 
formers,  and  arbitrary  power.  The  influence 
of  science  and  religion  have  brought  the  fruit 
of  increased  morality,  and  in  its  train  a  tem 
perance  far  exceeding  that  of  anyperiod  his 
torically  recorded.  Why  not  trust  to  these 
and  like  means  for  moral  reform  ? 

"  Respectfully  yours, 

"  JEFFERSON  DAVIS." 

Among  the  criticisms  evoked  by  this  letter 
was  an  address  at  Brookhaven,  Miss.,  by  a 
bishop  of  the  Methodist  Church  South,  which 
was  reported  by  the  Times* Democr&t  of  New 
Orleans.  Mr.  Davis  responded  to  this  ad 
dress  in  an  open  letter  to  the  reverend  orator, 
for  which  I  have  space  for  a  few  extracts 
only. 

"  You  have  expressed  sorrow,"  Mr.  Davis 
wrote,  "because  I  answered  the  inquiry  of  a 
friend  for  my  opinion  on  a  political  question, 
and  employed  many  kind  and  complimentary 
expressions  in  regard  to  me  ;  but  in  view  of 
your  persistence  in  unjustified  assailment, 
your  compliments  seem  like  the  garlands  with 
which,  in  the  olden  time,  a  sacrificial  offering 


THE  PROHIBITION  ISSUE.  $91 

was  decorated.  Now  it  is  my  turn  to  grieve, 
not  for  you  personally,  but  that  a  dignitary  of 
the  Methodist  Church  South  should  have  left 
the  pulpit  and  the  Bible  to  mount  the  political 
rostrum  and  plead  the  higher  law  of  prohibi 
tion — the  substitution  of  force  for  free  will, 
moral  responsibility,  the  obligation  to  do  un 
to  others  as  we  would  be  done  by,  and  the 
brotherly  love  taught  by  the  meek  and  lowly 
Jesus  whom  we  adore.  In  this  I  see  the  for 
bidden  union  of  Church  and  State.  My  grief 
is  real  and  relates  to  both. 

"  Disfranchised  as  I  be,  the  love  of  my  life 
for  the  Constitution  and  the  liberties  it  was 
formed  to  secure,  remains  as  ardent  in  a^e  as 

o 

it  was  in  youth.  '  The  Methodist  Church 
South  '  has  been  to  me  the  object  of  admira 
tion  and  grateful  affection,  because  of  its  fidel 
ity  to  principle  despite  the  pressure  of  wealth 
and  power,  by  the  good  of  its  underpaid  min 
isters,  who  have  gone  along  the  highways  to 
penetrate  unfrequented  regions,  and  there 
'  preach  the  gospel  to  the  poor.'  Often  has 
my  memory  recalled  the  prophetic  vision  of 
Bishop  Marvin.  Will  it  be  fulfilled  by  intro 
ducing  politics  into  the  organization  of  the 
Church  he  nobly  illustrated  ?  .  .  . 

"  Fanaticism  looks  through  a  reversed  tel 
escope,  minimizing  everything  save  its  spe 
cial  object.  What  though  one  should  point  a 


§92  JEFFERSON 

prohibitionist  to  the  civilizing,  harmonizing, 
peace- securing,  comfort-giving  effects  of  com 
merce  among  the  nations  ?  If  he  thought  it 
interfered  with  his  peculiar  '  ism,'  would  he 
not  probably  answer  by  irrelevant  catch 
words  ?  The  time  was  when  sumptuary  laws 
embraced  what  should  be  worn  and  eaten. 
If  we  begin  the  march  of  retrogression,  where 
will  it  stop  ?  If,  as  already  proposed,  there 
should  be  Federal  laws  to  enforce  the  prohi 
bition  policy,  your  recollection  of  war  and  re 
construction  days  should  enable  you  to  antici 
pate  the  doings  of  an  army  of  spies,  inform 
ers,  and  deputy-marshals  making  domiciliary 
visits  to  insure  the  observance  of  the  law. 
The  moral  decay  which  would  inevitably  re 
sult  from  such  a  condition,  needs  no  portrayal. 
To  me  it  seems  the  plain  duty  of  every  citi 
zen  wrho  loves  the  liberty  our  sires  bequeathed 
to  us,  to  check  the  scheme  before  it  acquires 
dangerous  proportions.  I  hold  it  to  be  one  of 
the  natural  rights  of  man  to  do  as  he  pleases 
with  his  own,  provided  he  inflicts  no  injury  on 
another.  To  protect  the  use  and  prevent  the 
abuse  of  that  right  is  the  necessity  of  social  ex 
istence  ;  to  give  adequate  power,  and  yet  effi 
ciently  to  guard  against  the  perversions  of  the 
grant,  is  the  problem  which  the  wisdom  of  ages 
has  but  partially  solved.  Hence  the  maxim, 
'  Eternal  vigilance  is  the  price  of  liberty.' 


THE  PROHIBITION  ISSUE.  893 

"  There  are  surely  better  remedies  for  of 
fence  against  the  peace  and  good  order  of  so 
ciety  than  such  a  departure  from  our  principles 
of  constitutional  liberty  and  community  inde 
pendence  as  would  be  Federal  legislation  to 
enforce  a  sumptuary  policy.  Father  Mathew 
found  reason  and  moral  suasion  such  potent 
factors  that  his  good  work  was  not  of  a  day, 
but  lives  after  him  in  some  who  took  the 
pledge,  and  others  who  have  joined  the  tem 
perance  societies.  These  and  other  causes 
have  so  acted  upon  public  opinion  and  social 
habits,  as  to  give  the  prohibition  movement 
the  possibilities  it  now  has,  and  could  not  have 
enjoyed  in  the  not  remote  past.  Why  not 
trust  to  religion  and  education,  to  refinement 
and  science,  aided  by  the  laws  which  have 
had  the  sanction  of  experience,  to  prevent  the 
formation  of  habits  of  intemperance,  rather 
than,  at  the  sacrifice  of  personal  liberty  and 
moral  responsibility,  to  undertake  by  coercive 
means  the  reformation  of  the  drunkard  ?  The 
former  may  be  preachable  ;  the  latter,  by  such 
methods,  is  hopeless. 

"  In  the  letter  to  Governor  Lubbock,  I  ad 
mitted  intemperance  to  be  a  great  evil ;  but 
is  it  the  only  one  that  afflicts  society  and  calls 
for  more  active  remedies  ?  The  opium  habit 
is  reported  by  statistics  to  be  increasing,  and, 
sad  to  relate,  that  its  greatest  ravages  are 


894  JEFFERSON  DAVIS. 

among  the  gentler  and  finer  sex.  Laws  ex 
ist,  but  fail  to  prevent  the  abuse.  In  this, 
prohibition  does  not  prohibit.  Are  there  not 
other  means  ?  Is  there  no  Peter  to  preach  a 
crusade  for  the  redemption  of  woman,  the 
mother  of  Jesus  ?  of  woman,  the  last  at  the 
cross,  and  first  at  the  sepulchre  ?  of  woman, 
the  consoling  friend  in  the  hospitals,  the  lead 
er  in  all  the  charities  ?  Is  there  no  St.  George 
to  stay  the  hydra  that  is  poisoning  the  salt  of 
the  earth  ?  I  do  not  deprecate  the  effort  to 
abate  the  evil  of  intemperance,  but  here  is  an 
evil  more  deleterious  to  mind  and  body,  and 
why,  it  is  asked,  is  the  field  unoccupied  to 
which  humanity  and  manhood  are  both  call 
ing  for  laborers  ? 

"  Atheism  reviles,  and  free  thought,  namely 
want  of  thought,  denies  the  truth  of  revelation, 
and  in  the  broad  day  scoffs  at  the  plan  of  sal 
vation.  The  month  in  which  you  made  your 
address  is  reputed  to  have  had  an  exception 
ally  large  number  of  assassinations.  The 
newspapers  have  many  notices  of  burglaries, 
robberies,  rapes,  and  infanticides.  Divorces 
are  shamefully  frequent.  The  war  between 
labor  and  capital  gives  cause  for  gravest  ap 
prehensions.  The  colossal  wealth  of  the  few 
grows  in  geometrical  proportions,  while  the 
toiling  millions  plod  on  their  weary  way. 
Are  all  these  and  other  evils,  crimes,  and  mis- 


THE  PROHIBITION  ISSUE.  895 

fortunes  not  enumerated  due  to  one  cause,  or 
is  the  one  idea  a  universal  absorbent  ?  " 

As  these  excerpts  clearly  convey  Mr.  Da- 
vis's  view  of  the  issue  involved,  it  does  not 
seem  necessary  to  give  any  further  account  of 
the  controversy.  It  ended  in  the  complete 
overthrow  of  the  prohibitory  movement  in 
Texas,  but  the  disturbance  created  by  the 
abuse  of  him  impaired  his  health,  now  quite 
feeble,  and  grieved  him  greatly.  The  Metho 
dist  bishop,  followed  by  many  of  his  clergy, 
attacked  him,  and  some  of  them  made  him 
the  theme  of  sermons.  As  he  always  ad 
mired  the  Methodists  and  worshipped  with 
them  when  not  at  his  own  church,  this  added 
to  his  annoyance,  not  for  the  sake  of  the  in 
dividuals  who  made  the  attack,  but  for  the 
body  of  pious  people  before  whom  he  felt 
himself  wantonly  misrepresented. 


CHAPTER   LXXXII. 

THE    EAST   INDIA   FLEET. 

OF  course,  in  the  long  years  after  the  war, 
there  were  many  recitations  of  Mr.  Davis's 
shortcoming's,  given  by  one  or  other  of  those 
who  thought  a  mistake  had  been  made  when 
he  was  asked  to  preside  over  the  Confederate 
States.  One  of  these  is  his  alleged  failure  to 
purchase  the  E.  I.  fleet,  which  was  revamped 
in  1889  and  given  to  the  journals  of  the  day. 

Judge  Roman,  in  his  book  entitled  "  Mili 
tary  Operations  of  General  Beauregard," 
states  that : 

"  While  journeying  from  Charleston  to 
Montgomery,  General  Beauregard  met  Mr. 
W.  L.  Trenholm,  whose  father,  George  A. 
Trenholm,  was  a  partner  in  the  great  firm  of 
John  Frazer  &  Co.,  of  Charleston  and  Liver 
pool.  This  gentleman,  as  he  informed  Gen 
eral  Beauregard,  was  the  bearer  of  important 
propositions  from  the  English  branch  of  their 
house  to  the  Confederate  Government,  for  the 
purchase  of  ten  large  and  powerful  steamers, 
just  built  in  England  for  the  East  Indian 
Company,  which,  no  longer  needing  them, 


THE  EAST  INDIA   FLEET.  897 

was  desirous  of  finding  a  purchaser ;  the 
ships  were  to  be  properly  manned  and  fitted 
out,  and  sent  to  the  Confederate  States, 
thence  to  export  enough  cotton  to  pay  for 
them,  and  as  much  more  as  should  be  requir 
ed  to  provide  for  the  armament  and  equip 
ment  of  our  forces.  Such  a  plan,  it  was 
thought  by  the  Frazer  house,  could  easily  be 
carried  out.  The  United  States  Government 
would  require  time  to  collect  and  rendezvous 
its  fleet,  the  inadequacy  of  which  was  well 
known  ;  and  no  fear  need,  therefore,  be  en 
tertained  of  its  ability,  at  that  time,  to  enforce 
a  blockade  of  the  Southern  ports ;  an  effective 
blockade  could  be  prevented.  After  a  certain 
number  of  voyages  with  large  cargoes  of  cot 
ton,  for  the  purposes  already  mentioned, 
these  steamers  might  be  converted  into 
cruisers,  and  employed  to  impede  and  destroy 
Northern  commerce." 

General  Beauregard,  thoroughly  impressed 
with  the  incalculable  benefits  to  be  derived 
from  the  adoption  of  such  a  project,  promised 
Mr.  Trenholm  to  use  his  utmost  endeavors  in 
furtherance  of  the  measures  that  gentleman 
was  sent  to  advocate.  In  a  letter  to  General 
Beauregard,  dated  Charleston,  September  18, 
1878,  Mr.  Trenholm  says:  "This  I  remem 
ber  well,  that  you  warmly  supported  the  pro 
position,  and  used  your  influence  in  aid  of  its 

VOL.  II.— 57 


898  JEFFERSON  DAVIS. 

being  brought  before  the  Cabinet,  which  was 
accomplished."  But  neither  General  Beaure- 
gard's  earnest  advice,  nor  the  strong  and  co 
gent  reasons  given  by  Mr.  Trenholm  were  of 
any  avail.  The  Confederate  Government,  un 
der  the  erroneous  belief  that  the  war  would 
be  a  short  one,  declined  entertaining  the  pro 
posals  made  to  it.  "  No  discussion  took 
place  in  my  presence,"  says  Mr.  Trenholm,  in 
the  letter  already  alluded  to,  "  but  from  ques 
tions  put  to  me,  I  have  always  been  under  the 
impression  that  few,  if  any,  of  those  present" 
(meaning  the  President  and  members  of  the 
Cabinet)  "realized  at  all  the  scope  and  im 
portance  of  the  measures  laid  before  them." 
Thus  was  closed  upon  the  Confederacy  a 
door — then  wide-open — through  which  might 
have  entered  that  material  assistance,  those 
sinews  of  war,  the  want  of  which  all  the  hero 
ism  of  our  troops  and  the  endurance  and 
self-sacrifice  of  our  people  could  not  rem 
edy. 

The  New  York  Sim  of  November  17,  1878, 
contained  what  purported  to  be  an  interview 
with  General  Beauregard,  in  which  he  said 
he  had  gone  with  a  messenger  of  Messrs. 
Frazer&  Co.  to  the  Confederate  Secretary  of 
War,  and  urged  him  to  buy  the  fleet. 

Mr.  W.  L.  Trenholm  wrote  to  Mr.  Davis 
December  18,  1878,  of  the  alleged  proposi- 


THE  EAST  INDIA   FLEET.  899 

tion  made  to  the  Confederate  Government  by 
Mr.  Trenholm. 


Mr.  Davis  s  Answer. 

"  One  should  speak  with  diffidence  of 
events  which  passed  seventeen  years  ago,  and 
hence  I  should  have  preferred  not  being  ap 
pealed  to  for  my  recollection  of  this  matter. 

"  The  first  application  was  made  to  me  in 
February  last.  I  enclose  my  reply  to  that 
(copy)  and  also  copy  of  my  letter  to  General 
Beauregard  of  September  i8th.  These  let 
ters  have  been  read  by  Mr.  Memminger,  and 
he  tells  me  that  only  one  matter  was  brought 
before  the  Cabinet,  viz.,  the  proposition  to 
subsidize  steamers,  to  keep  open  communica 
tion  with  the  West  Indies. 

"Since  the  interview  with  Mr.  Memmin 
ger,  I  have  taxed  my  memory  to  recall  what 
passed,  and  it  seems  to  me  that,  whether 
it  was  before  the  Cabinet  or  not,  the  other 
proposal,  viz.,  to  purchase  certain  steamers, 
was  spoken  of  at  the  cabinet  meeting  at  which 
I  was  present  by  invitation.  I  think  I  remem 
ber  someone,  possibly  it  was  General  Topmbs, 
making  a  remark  that  showed  that  he  had 
confused  the  two  measures  altogether,  and 
thought  the  proposition  was  for  the  Govern 
ment  to  buy  the  steamers,  and  then  subsidize 


9oo  .         JEFFERSON  DA  VIS. 

a  company  to  manage  them,  or  something  of 
that  sort. 

"  This  is  a  vague  and  indistinct  recollection, 
however,  and  I  merely  mention  it  because 
the  same  incidents  may  have  made  an  im 
pression  upon  the  others. 

11  As  well  as  I  can  remember,  I  spoke  in 
favor  of  both  measures.  Mr.  Memminger 
thinks  otherwise,  but  subsequent  effort  has 
failed  to  elicit  any  other  recollections  on  my 
part. 

"  Application  having  been  made  to  others 
who  were  in  a  position  to  know  all  the  cir 
cumstances  of  the  alleged  proposal  to  buy  the 
fleet,  so  positively  asserted  by  Judge  Roman, 
the  following  answers  were  received.  All 
show  that  their  recollections  are  also  '  vague 
and  indistinct,'  of  events  of  such  great  impor 
tance  that,  had  they  been  accomplished,  the 
1  door,'  as  Roman  says,  '  would  not  have  been 
closed  upon  the  Confederacy,  through  which 
might  have  entered  those  sinews  of  war,  the 
want  of  which  proved  fatal  to  the  cause.' 

"  Honorable  L.  P.  Walker,  ex-Confederate 
Secretary  of  War,  wrote  : 

"  '  I  have  read  the  article  in  the  New  York 
Sun  which  you  enclosed  me  in  your  letter  to 
me  of  the  second  instant.  I  do  not  remember 
the  interview  with  me  mentioned  by  General 
Beauregard,  nor  that  any  proposition  was 


THE  EAST  INDIA   FLEET.  901 

submitted  to  the  Confederate  Government  for 
the  sale  to  it  of  any  steamers  of  the  character 
stated  here.  If  any  such  proposition  was 
made,  it  has  passed  from  my  recollection.' 

"  To  a  like  inquiry,  addressed  to  Mr.  Mem- 
minger,  ex-Secretary  of  the  Confederate 
Treasury,  he  replied  on  November  27,  1878. 

"'CHARLESTON,  S.  C.,  November  27,  1878. 

"  '  HONORABLE  JEFFERSON  DAVIS, 
"  Beauvoir,  Miss. 

"  '  MY  DEAR  SIR:  I  have  no  recollection  of 
having  heard  of  the  proposition  referred  to  by 
General  Beauregard.  I  remember  my  having 
written  to  Mr.  Trenholm,  one  of  the  firm  of 
Jno.  Frazer  &  Co.,  to  come  on  to  Montgom 
ery  to  present  the  advantages  of  establishing 
a  depot  for  cotton  and  munitions  of  war  at 
Bermuda,  and  some  station  in  the  West  In 
dies,  and  that  he  came  on  and  appeared  be 
fore  the  Cabinet,  warmly  advocated  this  plan, 
and  that  it  met  with  my  cordial  approval ;  but 
it  was  not  approved  by  the  Cabinet. 

"'  I  remember  nothing  of  any  proposal  to 
purchase  the  steamers  of  the  India  Company. 
Mr.  William  Trenholm  remembers  his  ap 
pearance  before  the  Cabinet  in  behalf  of  the 
scheme  above  mentioned.  His  address  was 
confined  to  that  scheme,  but  he  says  he  made 
the  proposition  to  the  Secretary  of  War  and 


902  JEFFERSON  DAVIS. 

to  Mr.  Mallory,  the  Secretary  of  the  Navy,  to 
purchase  the  steamers  of  the  Oriental  Com 
pany,  but  that  they  had  many  grounds  of  ob 
jection  to  the  purchase,  such  as  the  great 
draught  of  water,  which  would  prevent  their 
entering  Southern  ports,  their  construction  of 
iron,  and  the  want  of  money.  He  has  no  rec 
ollection  of  ever  having  spoken  to  me  or  you 
on  the  subject,  nor  did  it  enter  into  the  state 
ment  made  before  the  Cabinet ;  and  as  to  my 
self,  I  have  no  recollection  of  having  been 
consulted  by  either  Mr.  Mallory  or  the  Secre 
tary  of  War. 

"  '  Very  truly  yours, 
"  '  C.  G.  MEMMINGER.'  " 

In  a  letter  to  Captain  Bullock,  C.  S.  N., 
written  by  Mr.  Charles  K.  Prioleau,  senior 
partner  in  the  Liverpool  firm  of  Frazer,  Tren- 
holm  &  Co.,  and  dated  Burges,  June  21, 1884, 
he  says : 

'*.  ...  As  regards  the  ten  steamers, 
I  thought  you  knew  about  them.  They  are 
a  part  of  the  East  India  Company's  fleet,  the 
Golden  Fleece,  Jason,  Hydaspes,  etc.  ;  they 
were  offered  to  me  at  the  beginning  of  the 
war,  before  you  came  over,  and  before  the 
Queen's  proclamation.  My  idea  was  that,  if 
they  could  have  been  armed  and  got  out,  they 


THE  EAST  INDIA  FLEET.  903 

would  have  swept  away  every  vestige  of  a 
Federal  blockader  then  upon  the  water. 
Frazer,  Trenholm  &  Co.  had  not  then  been 
appointed  agents  of  the  Government,  and  I 
did  not  offer  these  vessels  to  the  Government, 
but  I  mentioned  them  in  a  private  letter  to 
Mr.  G.  A.  Trenholm,  leaving  it  to  his  discre 
tion  to  put  it  before  them. 

"  As  a  matter  of  fact,  I  never  got  any  reply 
to  this  letter,  and  never  knew  that  the  ships 
had  even  been  proposed  to  the  Government 
till  long  after  the  war.  No  further  inquiries 
were  ever  made  me  concerning  them  from  any 
quarter.  About  nine  or  ten  years  Cor  per 
haps  not  quite  so  much)  ago,  General  Beau- 
regard  wrote  me,  saying  that  he  was  engaged 
upon  his  history,  that  he  had  heard  about 
these  steamers  through  William  Trenholm, 
who  had  referred  him  to  me  for  the  particu 
lars,  and  asked  me  if  I  would  give  him  a 
statement,  and  allow  him  to  mention  my 
name  as  to  my  part  of  the  transaction;  to 
which  I  willingly  consented,  and  gave  him 
just  the  facts  stated  above.  Of  course,  I  know 
now  that  the  enterprise  would  have  been  im 
possible,  but  we  did  not  know  anything  for 
certain  then  ;  and  any  opinion  of  mine  would 
have  been  that  of  a  layman,  and  on  its  face 
valueless  ;  therefore,  when  I  heard  no  more 
I  naturally  concluded  either  that  Mr.  Tren- 


9o4  ;  JEFFERSON  DA  VIS. 

holm  had  not  thought  it  worth  while  to  pro 
pose  the  undertaking,  or  that  the  Government 
had  been  advised  against  it  by  their  compe 
tent  officers  ;  and  there  is  no  doubt  now  that 
they  were  quite  right  not  to  risk  so  large  a  sum 
of  money  on  so  doubtful  an  enterprise,  even  if 
they  could  readily  have  raised  it.  It  is,  how 
ever,  a  little  strange  that,  if  the  Government 
knew  of  these  ships  at  the  time  you  left,  they 
did  not  instruct  you  to  look  at  them.  On  the 
whole,  I  am  inclined  to  think  that  they  were 
never  offered  to  the  Government  at  all,  but 
William  Trenholm  knew  of  them  from  having 

o 

access  to  his  father's  correspondence.     .    .     . 

"  Very  truly."  * 

With  this  letter  I  dismiss  the  charge  of 
criminal  neglect  or  supine  disregard,  on  the 
part  of  the  President  and  his  cabinet,  of  favor 
able  opportunity  or  of  our  danger,  as  "  vague 
and  indefinite." 

The  pain  inflicted  on  Mr.  Davis  in  his  old 
age  and  weak  health  by  arraignments  made 
against  him  by  his  own  people,  was  relieved 
very  much  when  he  received  an  expression  of 
regard  from  either  North  or  South.  He  was 
gratified  to  learn,  by  a  letter  from  a  friend  in 
Maine,  his  name  had  not,  as  he  had  been  in 
formed,  been  expunged  from  the  honorary 

*  North  American  Review,  October,  1889. 


THE  EAST  INDIA   FLEET.  905 

membership  of  Bowdoin  College,  in  Maine. 
He  appreciated  gratefully  the  action  of  the 
officers  of  the  college,  and  answered  their 
kind  letter  only  a  few  months  before  his 
death.  He  was  also  much  pleased  at  being 
made  a  member  of  the  Kappa  Sigma  Society, 
which  was  done  in  a  particularly  handsome 
manner.  It  was  the  society  of  which  our  son 
was  a  much-lamented  and  beloved  brother. 


CHAPTER   LXXXIII. 

GENERAL  RANSOM'S  REMINISCENCES  OF  MR.  DAVIS. 

GENERAL  ROBERT  RANSOM  was  invited  to 
send  a  reminiscence  of  my  husband,  who  ad 
mired  him  as  a  soldier  and  trusted  him  as  a 
friend,  and  he  responded  as  follows : 

"  On  July  5,  1856,  I  first  met  Mr.  Davis. 
He  was  then  Secretary  of  War,  and  I  a  lieu 
tenant  of  cavalry  visiting  Washington  for 
the  purpose  of  marrying  my  first  wife,  a 
young  lady  resident  in  that  city  and  an  inti 
mate  friend  of  Secretary  and  Mrs.  Davis. 
I  had  been  in  the  city  a  few  days  and  had 
not  paid  my  respects  to  the  Secretary  of 
War.  On  the  evening  of  the  5th,  the  Secre 
tary  and  Mrs.  Davis  held  a  reception,  and  I 
presented  myself,  and  was,  with  the  other 
company,  received  with  the  elegance  and 
grace  which  characterized  the  host  and  host 
ess  ;  but  the  Secretary  remarked,  with  an  air 
of  playful  reproof,  '  Young  gentleman,  I  ex 
pected  to  have  seen  you  before.'  Turning  to 
Mrs.  Davis,  I  said :  '  Madam,  do  you  think 
even  the  Secretary  of  War  has  a  right  to 
more  than  one  visit  from  a  young  fellow  on 


GENERAL  RANSOM'S  REMINISCENCES.     907 

leave  of  absence,  who  is  here  to  marry  his 
sweetheart  day  after  to-morrow,  when  she 
and  I  both  hope  to  see  you  and  receive  your 
congratulations  ?  '  He  instantly  replied  :  '  Go 
to  your  sweetheart  and  tell  her,  with  my  love, 
I  am  her  friend  and  shall  be  to  her  husband, 
if  he  be  worthy  of  so  noble  a  woman/  To 
the  day  of  his  death  he  was  true  to  the  volun 
tary  promise  made  upon  the  eve  of  my  mar 
riage,  more  than  thirty  years  before.  One 
among  innumerable  instances  of  tenacious 
memory  and  inviolable  good  faith  shown 
through  a  life  as  full  of  extreme  vicissitude  as 
falls  to  the  lot  of  man. 

"During  the  exciting  period  of  'Kansas 
Troubles/  in  the  autumn  of  1856,  I  was  again 
in  Washington,  and  happened  to  be  in  com 
pany  with  Mr.  Davis  and  other  prominent 
men  at  a  social  gathering.  The  subject  of 
the  dispersion  by  Colonel  E.  V.  Sumner,  of 
the  First  Cavalry,  of  the  '  Topeka  Legisla 
ture/  was  broached,  and  Sumner  was  criti 
cised  by  someone  for  not  taking  some  of  his 
officers  with  him  into  the  hall  where  it  had 
assembled,  as  that  fact  had  been  noticed  by 
the  press  of  the  country.  I  was  with  Colonel 
Sumner  that  day,  July  4,  1856,  at  Topeka, 
and  was  his  adjutant.  I  was  asked  by  one  of 
the  persons  present  as  to  the  correctness  of 
the  statement  regarding  Sumner's  going  alone 


9o8  JEFFERSON  DAVIS. 

into  the  hall,  and  I  substantiated  the  fact.  Mr. 
Davis,  in  answer  to  some  adverse  criticism 
upon  Sumner,  promptly  replied  :  '  Brave  and 
honest  men  are  not  suspicious,  and  Edwin 
Sumner  is  as  brave  as  Caesar  and  honest  as 
Cato.'  This  illustrates  Mr.  Davis's  fidelity  to 
truth  and  justice,  regardless  of  sectional  birth 
or  habitation.  All  knew  Sumner  was  from 
Massachusetts.  Mr.  Davis  appointed  him 
senior  colonel  of  the  four  new  regiments 
which  were  added  to  the  army  in  March, 

1855- 

"  Upon  reaching  Richmond,  in  the  summer 

of  1 86 1,  after  resigning  the  commission  I 
held  in  the  army,  I  delivered  to  President 
Davis  a  message  from  a  young  officer  whom 
I  had  left  upon  the  frontier.  The  young  of 
ficer  claimed  Kentucky  as  his  home.  The 
message  was  to  the  effect  that,  if  Mr.  Davis 
would  ask  him  to  join  the  Confederacy,  and 
give  him  high  rank  in  the  army,  he,  the  young 
officer,  would  promptly  repair  to  Richmond. 
Mr.  Davis's  response  to  me  was  prompt  and 
emphatic,  and  to  the  effect :  '  I  know  the 
young  man  well,  and  have  long  been  his  and 
his  family's  friend.  If  his  State  join  the  Con 
federacy,  he  will  surely  follow  her  fortunes  ; 
if  he  voluntarily  casts  his  lot  with  the  Southern 
Confederacy,  he  shall  have  the  recognition  his 
character  and  ability  deserve  ;  but  I  shall  not 


GENERAL  RANSOM'S  REMINISCENCES.     909 

make  the  least  overture  to  him,  as  he  ought 
to  know  from  direct  messages  which  I  am 
aware  he  must  have  received  from  me/  The 
young  man  remained  in  the  Federal  army, 
but  won  no  particular  distinction.  Mr.  Davis 
has  been  traduced  as  a  teacher  of  treason  ; 
this  incident  proves  how  far  above  the  traitor 
he  was  by  nature  and  arts. 

"  In  October,  1861,  I  carried  to  Richmond 
the  first  full  regiment  of  cavalry,  the  First 
North  Carolina,  which  had  reached  that  city. 
We  were  there  a  few  days,  and  the  regiment 
was  reviewed  by  the  President.  It  numbered 
about  eight  hundred  present,  was  admirably 
mounted,  and,  for  our  facilities,  well  equipped. 
The  appearance  and  drill  were  more  than 
creditable  for  cavalry  not  three  months  in  the 
ranks,  and  the  President,  at  the  close  of  the 
review,  accompanied  by  Colonel  Chilton  and 
some  other  gentlemen,  advanced  to  me,  an4 
after  congratulations  and  compliments,  said  in 
words  nearly  as  follows  :  '  If  we  had  had  this 
regiment  at  Manassas,  Washington  would 
have  been  ours/  It  is  well  known  that  the 
Confederate  army,  at  the  battle  of  the  first 
Manassas,  was  without  cavalry,  excepting  an 
irregular  company  or  two.  Colonel  Chilton 
afterward  spoke  of  the  remark  of  the  Presi 
dent,  as  demonstrating  the  fact  that  Mr.  Da 
vis  realized  the  demoralization  which  pos- 


910  JEFFERSON  DAVIS. 

sessed  the  Federal  army  on  the  evening  of 
the  battle  of  the  first  Manassas.     .     .     . 

"  In  April,  1864,  I  was  called  from  East  Ten 
nessee  to  Richmond  by  telegram,  *  for  other 
and  distant  service/  but  a  day  or  two  after 
my  arrival  at  Richmond  was  assigned  to  the 
command  of  the  city  and  its  outer  defences, 
extending  as  far  as  Petersburg.  It  is  needless 
to  give  the  reasons  for  this  change  in  the  pur 
poses  of  the  President.  For  the  next  two 
months,  hardly  any  forty-eight  hours  passed 
that  I  did  not  meet  the  President  by  appoint 
ment  at  his  office  or  at  his  home  ;  and  often 
night  and  day,  when  upon  the  outer  lines 
among  and  commanding  troops  Mr.  Davis 
came  to  me  to  confer  and  always  to  encourage. 
It  would  run  beyond  the  limit  of  my  purpose, 
were  I  to  detail  all  that  memory  and  memor 
anda  now  supply  of  those  many  interviews ; 
but  that  the  world  may  know  both  the  private 
life  and  public  character  of  this  singularly  il 
lustrious  man,  I  shall  narrate  circumstantially 
some  events  that  cannot  fail  to  instruct  and 
interest  those  who  own  truth.  .  .  . 

"  The  day  after  the  combat  at  Yellow  Tav 
ern,  near  Richmond,  when  Stuart  met  Sher 
idan  and  received  his  mortal  wound,  I  had  hur 
ried  from  the  vicinity  of  Drury's  Bluff  to  the 
defensive  lines  north  of  Richmond  with  two 
small  brigades  of  infantry,  and  by  sunrise,  or 


GENERAL   RANSOM'S  REMINISCENCES.     911 

before,  confronted  Sheridan,  who  had  dis 
persed  our  cavalry.  It  was  an  hour  to  try 
every  Confederate  present.  Mr.  Davis  was 
upon  the  field.  No  one  could  realize  the  sit 
uation  more  clearly  than  he.  He  never  ap 
peared  to  greater  advantage.  Calm,  self-con 
tained,  cheerful,  hopeful,  determined,  he  was 
an  inspiration  to  every  soul  who  saw  him. 
He  did  not  once  interfere,  suggest,  or  order 
anything,  but  he  was  then  demonstrating  his 
readiness,  and  I  have  often  thought  his  pur 
pose,  to  assume  control  should  the  desperate 
moment  arrive.  He  was  kind  enough  to  thank 
me  then,  and  many  times  subsequently  to  re 
fer  most  flatteringly  to  me  for  the  operations 
of  that  day,  and  my  service  before  Richmond 
during  the  spring  and  early  summer  of  1864. 

"  There  was  no  individual  who  was  more 
familiar  with  the  topography  of  Richmond  and 
its  vicinity  than  Mr.  Davis.  He  had  made 
himself  acquainted  with  every  road  and  by 
path,  and  with  the  streams  and  farms  for 
twenty  miles  around.  Fond  of  horseback  ex 
ercise,  he  rode  often  and  frequently  late  into 
the  night.  Sometimes  till  sunrise  or  later  the 
next  morning  in  going  over  the  lines  and  get 
ting  personal  knowledge  of  localities  and  facts 
which  might  prove  useful. 

"  I  recall  very  vividly  the  last  visit  he  made 
me  upon  such  an  occasion.  It  was  on  the  night 


912  JEFFERSON  DAVIS. 

of  June  ii,  1864.  I  lay  in  bivouac  a  few 
hundred  yards  from  Bottom's  Bridge,  over 
the  Chickahominy,  east  of  Richmond.  Grant 
was  then  moving  down  the  east  bank  of  that 
stream  for  the  purpose  of  making  connection 
with  Butler  across  the  James.  About  two  or 
three  o'clock  in  the  morning,  I  felt  a  light 
hand  on  my  shoulder  as  I  lay  asleep  with  my 
head  on  my  saddle,  and  started  to  rise.  I  re 
cognized  the  voice  of  the  President,  in  a  low 
tone.  '  Do  not  rise,'  said  he.  ( I  know  you 
have  but  just  fallen  asleep,  I  give  you  an 
early  call.  Grant  will  not  attempt  to  cross 
here,  he  is  planning  to  do  so  below  ;  to-day 
you  will  be  relieved  here.  I  have  to  send  you 
with  Early  to  meet  Hunter,  who  is  devastating 
the  valley.  Your  task  will  be  hard  to  organ 
ize  the  wild  cavalry  which  has  just  been  de 
feated  at  Rock  Fish  Gap,  and  that  good  sol 
dier,  but  unhappy  man,  "  Grumble  Jones," 
killed.  Make  your  arrangements.  You  will 
get  the  order  to-day.' 

"  Mr.  Davis  was  a  very  hospitable  man,  and 
his  home  was  a  charming1  resort  to  those  who 

o 

could  appreciate  the  simple  and  unpretentious 
cordiality  which  marked  every  member  of  his 
family.  Often  I  partook  of  that  hospitality 
while  he  was  a  resident  of  Richmond,  and 
since  his  return  from  Europe.  The  same 
urbanity  and  gentleness  prevailed  at  his  home, 


GENERAL   RANSOM'S  REMINISCENCES.    913 

whether  as  President,  Cabinet  officer,  in 
wealth  or  power,  or  as  the  private  citizen 
having  the  burden  of  a  nation's  woes.  That 
the  world  may  learn  it  from  the  pen  of  one 
who  has  experienced  his  kindness  under  al 
most  all  circumstances,  I  take  the  liberty  to 
invade  the  privacy  of  his  home  on  the  occa 
sion  of  my  last  meal  at  his  table  while  he  was 
President  of  the  Confederacy.  In  the  fall 
of  1864,  I  was  ordered  to  the  command  of 
Charleston  and  vicinity,  and  received  my  or 
ders  in  Richmond.  The  President  asked  me 
to  breakfast.  I  went  to  a  somewhat  late  one, 
and  found  that  I  and  a  lady  guest  had  to  en 
tertain  ourselves  for  a  few  minutes  waiting 
for  the  host,  who  had  not  retired,  as  Mrs. 
Davis  told  me,  until  sunrise.  Soon  Mrs. 
Davis  led  the  way  to  the  breakfast-room,  seat 
ing  me  by  her,  while  Mr.  Davis  placed  the 
lady  at  his  right.  The  grace  was  said  as 
usual.  Our  breakfast  was  simple  in  the  ex 
treme,  and  there  was  anything  but  profusion. 
Mrs.  Davis  poured  some  hot  Rio  coffee,  Java 
and  Mocha  were  then  only  known  from  mem 
ory.  Mr.  Davis  had  before  him  a  dish  of 
rather  fat  bacon,  cut  very  thin  and  fried  crisp. 
The  neat  man-servant  handed  cold  baker's 
bread,  and  brought  in  corn  batter  cakes,  while 
a  very  small  plate  of  butter,  the  gift  of  a  lady 
friend,  graced  the  centre  of  the  table.  Such 
VOL.  11—58 


9H  JEFFERSOA?  DAVIS. 

was  the  breakfast  of  the  President  of  the  Con 
federacy.  He  possibly  might  have  fared  some 
what  more  sumptuously,  for  he  was  the  recip 
ient  of  some  things  from  friends,  but  whatever 
of  such  supplies  was  received,  or  which  he 
could  procure,  was  sent  to  the  soldiers  in  hos 
pitals,  whose  needs  he  too  well  knew  and  never 
forgot.  Mr.  Davis  could  not  have  lived  upon 
luxuries  or  enjoyed  abundance  when  he  knew 
his  countrymen,  standing  as  living  walls  be 
tween  his  home  and  a  powerful  enemy,  were 
less  well  provided  than  himself. 

"  In  personal  appearance  and  traits  he  was 
very  attractive.  His  figure  was  erect  and 
graceful,  though  spare ;  his  carriage  easy, 
alert,  and  dignified  ;  his  voice  singularly  clear 
and  gentle.  He  was  very  approachable.  So 
many  pictures  of  his  features  are  preserved 
that  they  need  no  description.  His  faculties 
of  observation,  naturally  very  fine,  were  high 
ly  cultivated.  He  was  an  excellent  swords 
man.  His  success  as  a  planter  showed  his 
practical  capacity  in  ordinary  matters.  He 
was  fond  of  domestic  animals,  and  few  men 
were  better  judges  of  all  classes  of  them. 
He  believed  in  the  thorough-bred  in  a  horse, 
though  I  do  not  know  that  he  ever  raised 
them  to  any  extent.  With  the  forest  trees  of 
the  various  regions  of  our  country  he  was 
well  acquainted,  and  was,  perhaps,  the  equal 


GENERAL   RANSOM'S  REMINISCENCES.     915 

of  John  Randolph  as  a  geographer  of  his  own 
country.  Mr.  Davis  had  not  only  read  of  the 
arts  and  sciences,  of  trades  and  commerce, 
and  all  that  pertains  to  them,  but  was  so  con 
versant  with  such  subjects  that  he  was  at 
home  among  experts  in  all  branches.  He 
must  have  been  for  the  greater  part  of  his 
life  a  hard  student,  and  I  think  contracted  the 
habit  of  '  burning  midnight  oil/  for  he  was  a 
late  riser.  His  memory  was  nearly  infallible. 
A  person  whom  he  had  met  casually  he  could 
call  by  name  years  after,  and  convince  the 
party  he  knew  him  by  recalling  instantly 
some  incident  of  the  meeting.  He  was  a  de 
vout  man,  modest  and  humble  in  his  relations 
to  his  Maker,  without  a  tinge  of  the  Pharisee. 
"  At  his  table  he  '  said  grace/  or  '  asked  a 
blessing/  first  seating  himself,  and  then  with 
bowed  head,  in  silence  making  the  invocation. 
When  he  lived  in  Memphis,  I  sometimes  met 
at  Mr.  Davis's  residence  the  venerable  and 
Reverend  Dr.  Wheat,  between  whom  and 
Mr.  Davis  there  existed  the  sweetest  rela 
tions.  As  together,  on  one  occasion,  we  left 
his  residence,  Dr.  Wheat  said  to  me,  '  If  that 
man  were  a  member  of  the  Romish  Church, 
he  would  be  canonized  as  a  saint,  and  his  suf 
ferings  for  our  and  the  South's  sake  should 
forever  enshrine  him  in  our  hearts  as  our  vi 
carious  sacrifice/ 


9i 6  JEFFERSON  DAVIS. 

"  Of  the  relations  which  he  established  in 
his  family  in  the  position  of  husband  and  fa 
ther,  I  am  incompetent  to  write  in  the  lan 
guage  befitting  the  parties  concerned.  Eulo 
gy  would  be  exhausted  without  exaggerating 
what  seemed  to  the  friend  and  guest  the  per 
fection  of  domestic  existence.  Knightly  chiv 
alry  marked  the  tenderest  attentions  to  wife 
and  daughters,  while  with  his  sons  he  was  a 
loving  mentor  and  wise  companion.  An  in 
cident  I  witnessed  will  illustrate  more  than 
one  characteristic.  During  one  of  my  sev 
eral  visits  to  Memphis,  when  I  was  always  a 
guest  for  longer  or  shorter  periods,  I  was 
at  dinner  with  the  family.  Just  after  being 
seated,  and  I  think  other  company  was  pres 
ent,  an  unusual  commotion  was  heard  in  the 
passage  leading  to  the  dining-room,  and 
almost  instantly  in  rushed  the  bright,  fair- 
haired  Willie,  his  youngest  son,  a  lad  of  eight 
or  ten  years,  followed  by  half  a  dozen  or 
more  about  his  size  and  age,  whom  Willie  had 
brought  in  to  dinner.  He  rapidly  told  of  some 
gardening  or  other  work  he  had  in  hand,  and 
which  he  wished  finished  at  a  certain  time, 
and  not  being  able  to  accomplish  it  so  soon 
himself,  he  had  gone  into  the  streets  and 
gathering  his  very  promiscuous  party  of  labor 
ers,  completed  the  task  voluntarily  assumed, 
and  now  wanted  dinner  for  his  co-workers. 


GENERAL   RANSOMS  REMINISCENCES.     917 

I  could  easily  discern  the  feelings  of  the 
father ;  with  great  cheerfulness  and  an  expres 
sion  of  pride  and  satisfaction,  Mr.  Davis  aided 
in  preparing  for  his  fine  boy's  guests,  and 
with  delicate  tact  and  discriminating  conver 
sation  soon  had  each  little  fellow  as  comfort 
able  and  unembarrassed  as  if  on  a  picnic. 
The  son  had  inherited  from  his  parents  high 
qualities  and  capacity,  thus  early  indicated. 
The  grave  soon  closed  over  the  sons  of  the 
great  father.  To  attempt  to  draw  the  veil 
from  sacred  griefs  becomes  not  one  who  felt 
the  agony  such  losses  entailed,  and  who 
mourns  the  death  of  our  South's  greatest 
hero,  and  has  wept  with  the  sorrow  of  a  be 
reaved  son  that  the  truest  friend,  the  bravest 
soldier,  the  knightliest  gentleman,  and  hum 
blest  Christian  of  our  land  no  longer  lives,  the 
exemplar  of  all  that  makes  men  noble." 


CHAPTER   LXXXIV. 

MR.    DAVIS'S   CHARACTERISTICS. 

LIKE  most  people  of  keen  perceptions,  in 
cisive  wit,  and  high  ideal  standards,  Mr.  Da 
vis  was  inclined  to  satire,  and  in  his  younger 
days  indulged  this  propensity,  never  cruelly, 
but  often  to  his  own  injury.  His  sense  of  the 
ludicrous  was  intense,  his  powers  of  obser 
vation  were  close,  and  his  memory  was  phe 
nomenal.  He  seldom  forgot  a  face,  name,  or 
circumstance.  If  he  travelled  over  a  country 
once,  he  knew  the  topography  of  that  part 
which  he  traversed,  the  trees  that  indicated 
the  character  of  the  soil,  noted  the  grasses 
indigenous  there,  observed  the  kinds  of  do 
mestic  stock  preferred,  the  general  charac 
teristics  of  the  people,  their  occupations,  their 
sources  of  wealth,  and  even  their  means  of 
water-supply.  With  a  mind  ever  alert  and 
discriminating,  he  took  to  himself,  never  to 
be  relinquished,  all  that  nature  and  art  spread 
out  before  him. 

Always  delicately  soigne  in  his  own  person, 
he  observed  the  lack  of  neatness  in  others,  and 
was  prone  to  see  in  it  an  indication  of  mental 


MR.  D AVISOS  CHARACTERISTICS.  919 

characteristics.  Once  when  describing  a  poor 
man  who  came  to  him  for  a  loan,  he  said,  "  He 
was  miserably  poor,  but  his  threadbare  coat 
was  brushed  and  his  copperas  linsey  trou 
sers  and  his  horny  hands  were  clean,  so  I 
gave  him  the  money."  Mr.  Davis  observed 
the  dress  of  ladies  very  closely,  but  could  not 
describe  one  which  displeased  him  except  by 
saying,  "  It  was  very  high-colored,  outsetting, 
and  full  of  tags,  and  you  could  see  her  afar 
off,"  by  which  he  meant  there  were  flying  rib 
bons,  and  she  had  a  "  loud  "  expression. 

There  were  few  more  shrewd  judges  of 
character  than  he,  but  he  was  apt  to  be  misled 
by  some  of  the  qualities  he  admired  and  infer 
the  rest,  and  was  thus  sometimes  mistaken  in 
his  judgment.  He  was  himself  so  consistent 
that  he  could  not  understand  the  incongruities 
of  others.  If  he  found  a  man  sincere  in  one 
thing,  or  the  opposite,  it  was  impossible  for 
him  to  believe  that,  swayed  by  a  powerful  mo 
tive,  the  reverse  action  could  be  adopted  with 
out  all  he  attributed  to  him  being  forfeited  ; 
consequently,  after  every  defection  of  a  friend 
he  suffered  keenly.  Faithful  in  his  lightest 
profession  of  regard,  and  retentive  of  his 
friendships,  he  was  deeply  wounded  by  the  du 
plicity  of  those  he  had  trusted — not  expressed- 
ly  bitter,  for  pride  and  reticence,  both  of  which 
were  unusually  developed  in  him,  prevented  his 


926  *J  EPPERSON  DAWS. 

asking  for  sympathy  by  showing  his  wound — 
but  some  keen  satire,  or  general  reflection 
upon  the  faithlessness  of  men,  would  attest 
his  discovery,  or  the  remark,  "  All  men  are 
not  built  like  martyrs,"  would  show  his  con 
tempt. 

He  noticed  every  shade  of  expression  that 
passed  athwart  the  faces  of  those  with  whom 
he  held  intercourse.  Once,  when  a  general 
came  to  him  to  set  forth  his  superior  officer's 
mistakes,  and  ended  his  long  story  with,  "  It 
is  only  a  matter  of  patriotic  interest,  of  course 
there  is  nothing  personal  to  me  involved," 
he  was  bowed  out  civilly  and  Mr.  Davis  said  : 

"  He  came  to  ask  for  General 's  place." 

On  my  expressing  astonishment,  he  laughed 
and  answered,  "  I  do  not  mean  that  he  said  so, 
only  he  seemed  to  be  too  full  of  expedients  to 
gain  a  victory,  and  to  suffer  too  much  over  the 
General's  neglect  of  his  opportunities."  In  a 
few  days  a  newspaper  contained  the  criticism 
Mr.  Davis  had  listened  to,  with  a  suggestion 
of  the  name  of  the  critic  to  fill  the  place  not 
likely  to  be  vacant. 

No  young  man  ever  came  to  him  with  a 
tale  of  injustice,  or  sorrowful  experience, 
without  finding  a  sympathetic  listener  and, 
while  he  had  the  means,  a  liberal  contributor 
to  necessities  which  had  been  implied  or 
stated. 


MR.  DAVIS\S  CHARACTERISTICS.          921 

It  was  a  rule  of  his  house  that  no  one 
should  be  turned  away  hungry,  however  un 
deserving  or  unattractive.  A  child's  cry  of 
pain  would  make  him  quiver  from  head  to  foot. 
A  tear  on  the  cheek  of  one  in  his  house,  or  a 
downcast  look,  caused  him  to  inquire  into  the 
trouble,  and  sometimes  his  attempts  to  do 
justice  were  embarrassing  enough. 

On  the  following  page  will  be  found  the 
back  of  a  letter  asking  for  assistance,  the  en 
dorsement  on  which  he  never  expected  to 
meet  any  eye  but  his  own. 

Sometimes,  when  he  was  reading  his  mail  I 
heard  a  groan  and  a  muttered  exclarrfation, 
"  Poor  creature,  and  my  hands  are  tied  !  "  It 
was  always  some  appeal  for  help  over  which 
he  was  distressing  himself. 

He  was  excitable,  but  not  petulant,  easily 
persuaded  where  to  yield  did  not  involve  a 
principle,  and  was  more  stern  toward  himself 
than  to  any  other.  His  methods  of  showing 
sympathy  were  sometimes  eccentric.  Once 
in  the  street,  a  gentleman  beggar  asked  him 
for  the  twentieth  time  for  twenty-five  cents. 
He  took  his  arm  and  walked  a  square,  remon 
strating  in  this  wise  :  "  It  mortifies  me  to  see 
you  lowered  in  this  way.  I  will  give  you  five 
dollars,  and  you  can  let  me  off  with  twenty 
applications,  and  feel  more  comfortable." 

To  his  family  he  was  niggardly  in  nothing, 


922 


JEFFERSON  DA  VIS. 


If  not  delivered  within  10  days,  to  be  returned  to 


but    his   personal    self-denial    was    unusual ; 
keenly  alive   to  the  pleasures  of  luxury,  he 


MR.  D AVISOS  CHARACTERISTICS.  923 

denied  himself  all  that  our  love  permitted  him 
•to  relinquish.     He  rarely  made  known  a  per 
sonal  want. 

His  piety  was  of  the  kind  that  vaunts  not 
itself,  but  was  the  rule  of  his  life.  He  forbore 
with  those  beneath  him  until  patience  ceased 
to  be  a  virtue  ;  but  with  his  equals  he  asserted 
and  enforced  his  rights.  He  was  extremely 
reticent,  always  saying  less  than  he  thought, 
but  was  careful  to  convey  the  exact  truth  in 
the  little  he  expressed.  He  was  courteous 
in  the  extreme  to  everyone,  and  his  servants 
used  commonly  to  express  their  appreciation  of 
this  by  saying  he  was  "a  very  fine  gentleman." 

In  portraying  the  character  of  Mr.  Davis 
it  is  difficult  to  place  a  just  estimate  upon  his 
noble  qualities  without  appearing  rather  as  a 
panegyrist  than  a  witness. 

Forty-three  years  of  intimate  companion 
ship,  from  the  beginning  of  his  political  career 
until  the  end,  left  me  with  the  profoundest 
respect  for  his  unswerving  mental  and  moral 
integrity,  his  stanch  adherence  to  principle, 
his  self-immolating  devotion  to  duty,  his  calm, 
invincible  courage,  his  wide  sympathy  with 
mankind,  and  his  unfeigned  reverence  for  his 
Creator. 

In  the  greatest  effort  of  his  life,  Mr.  Davis 
failed  from  the  predominance  of  some  of  these 
noble  qualities. 


924  JEFFERSON  DAVIS, 

Mrs.  Mary  A.  Greer,  of  Mississippi,  ex 
plained  the  causes  of  his  failure  in  the  follow 
ing  noble  lines : 

"  He  failed  because  he  was  so  great  ;  his  duty 
Lay  in  Presidency,  not  Dictatorship. 
And  he  was  one  that  would  not  enter  Paradise 
By  treachery,  fraud,  and  usurpation. 
He  held  his  lightest  promise  as  a  sacred  thing, 
How  much  more  his  oath  of  office  sworn. 
The  law  had  circumscribed  and  set  his  bounds, 
The  law  he'd  sworn  to  keep  he  would  not  break. 
He  had  within- him  strength  to  cope  with  all 
The  fearful  issues  of  the  time,  the  stern  volition, 
Steadfast  purpose,  and  the  ceaseless  watch  ; 
Strength  to  gather  up  the  scattered  slender  means, 
To  bind,  to  weld,  to  rivet  firm  in  one, 
And  name  the  force  so  formed  success. 
All  this  within  him  lay,  but  power  to  do 
This  was  withheld,  and  power  not  freely 
Given  he  scorned  to  rudely  seize. 
Patient  sorrowing,  much  enduring  soul, 
God  strengthen  thee  ;  in  all  his  strength, 
Christ  comfort  thee  ;  in  all  his  love, 
Angels  tend  thee  ;  in  all  thy  ways 
Nobly  thou  hast  wrought  and  overcome." 

His  foresight  showed  him  the  risks  of  se 
cession,  and  his  sincerity  bade  him  proclaim 
them,  while  his  courage  urged  him  to  attempt 
resistance  to  wrong  against  the  world  in  arms, 
and  his  piety  held  out  the  hope  that  God 
would  miraculously  shield  us.  He  cheerfully 
resigned  everything  and  asserted  a  principle 
which,  however  it  may  now  be  derided,  he 
knew  was  vital  to  the  liberties  of  mankind, 


MR.   D AVISOS  CHARACTERISTICS.  925 

No  man  doubted  then  that  his  election  to 
the  office  of  President  of  the  United  States 
would  be  the  swift  reward  of  his  proving  rec 
reant  to  the  interests  of  his  own  people ;  but 
he  sacrificed  the  labors  and  ambitions  of  his 
life  to  the  maintenance  of  his  faith.  His  fam 
ily  who  survive  him  were  engulfed  in  the  com 
mon  disaster  and  utter  ruin,  but  are  proud  of 
his  record,  and  hopefully  await  the  verdict  of 
posterity. 


CHAPTER  LXXXV. 


THE   END   OF  A  NOBLE   LIFE,  AND  A  NATION'S  SOR 
ROW   OVER   ITS   LOSS. 


MR.  DAVIS'S  apparent  feebleness  had  been 
accompanied  by  enough  increase  in  weight  to 
encourage  my  hopes  of  his  health  improving. 
He  never  stooped,  but  retained  his  fine  sol 
dierly  carriage,  and  always  walked  with  a 
light,  firm  step,  and  with  apparent  ease ;  his 
voice  was  sweet  and  sonorous  as  ever.  A 
slight  deafness  was  the  only  evidence  of  age. 
His  eyes  became  so  strong  he  frequently  read 
without  glasses.  His  mind  was  wonderfully 
alert,  and  he  read  and  enjoyed  newspapers, 
reviews,  poetry,  and  fiction,  and  remembered 
what  he  read  to  a  wonderful  degree.  He 
talked  about  the  topics  of  the  day  with  the 
fresh  sympathy  of  a  young  man,  and  made 
many  witty  and  wise  comments  upon  them. 
He  had  an  immense  correspondence,  the  an 
swers  to  which  he  dictated  to  me,  and  seemed, 
except  on  a  few  occasions,  not  to  feel  the  la 
bor. 

He  was  always  ready  to  hear  any  jest  or 
story  that  was  told  him,  or  to  offer  sympathy 


1HE  END    OF  A   NOBLE  LIFE.  927 

to  those  who  needed  it.  His  neighbors  loved 
him,  and  he  enjoyed  greatly  their  visits.  One 
of  them  especially,  Major  William  H.  Morgan, 
used  to  come  and  talk  over  the  war  and  the 
news  of  the  day,  and  Mr.  Davis  never  tired 
of  his  society. 

One  anxiety,  however,  preyed  upon  him 
dreadfully,  and  this  was  his  first  debt.  He 
had  never  owed  one  he  could  not  pay  on  de 
mand,  and  was  sixty-five  years  old  before  he 
had  a  law-suit.  He  was  a  strict  economist  in 
his  own  person,  though  lavish  to  his  family — 
never  refusing  us  anything  for  which  he 
thought  he  could  pay. 

,  Two  successive  overflows  of  our  plantation 
on  the  Mississippi  had  plunged  him  deeply  in 
debt  to  his  commission  merchant,  Mr.  J.  U. 
Payne,  a  man  inestimably  dear  to  my  hus 
band,  and  one  whose  nobility  of  soul  had  pre 
vented  him  from  distressing  his  friend  either 
to  give  him  security  or  payment.  This  gen-, 
erous  consideration  for  Mr.  Davis  only  en 
hanced  his  desire  to  pay  the  debt.  Our  good 
son-in-law's  health  did  not  permit  him  to  re 
main  in  a  malarial  country  without  imminent 
risk,  so  that  we  could  not  avail  ourselves  of 
his  willingness  to  serve  us,  or  of  his  powerful 
aid  to  extricate  the  estate  from  debt,  and 
God  had  taken  to  himself  all  our  sons  and 
all  my  brothers  ;  so  that  Mr.  Davis,  though 


928  JEFFERSON  DAVIS. 

too  feeble  for  the  effort,  went  at  intervals  to 
Brierfield,  which  was  inaccessible,  and  always 
reached  at  night  by  the  steamboats,  our  only 
means  of  visiting  the  island. 

He  had  been  for  a  long  time  very  weak  and 
unable  to  bear  exercise,  but  felt  it  his  duty 
to  attend  to  his  affairs.  Some  members  of 
his  family  were  visiting  us,  and  he  preferred, 
as  his  stay  would  be  short,  that  I  should  re 
main  with  them. 

He  arrived  at  the  landing  at  night,  but  had 
been  attacked  on  the  boat  with  something 
which  now  appears  to  have  been  grippe,  and 
was  too  ill  to  get  off  the  boat,  but  went  on  to 
Vicksburg  and  returned  the  next  day.  He 
arrived  again  at  night,  and  drove  several 
miles  home  through  the  malarial  atmosphere. 

I  received  a  telegram  from  a  kind  young 
man  in  Mr.  Davis's  employment,  dated  No 
vember  nth,  saying  my  husband  would  not 
have  a  doctor,  and  was  in  bed,  and  I  pro 
ceeded  at  once  to  take  a  boat  for  Brierfield. 
We  met  upon  the  river.  Captain  Leathers, 
whom  we  had  known,  as  a  boy,  felt  an  in 
tense  interest  in  him,  and  had  his  father's 
boat  hailed,  and  found  out  Mr.  Davis  was 
on  board.  He  was  asleep  when  I  met  him, 
but  waked  very  soon  and  seemed  better  for 
meeting  me.  Two  physicians  whom  we  con 
sulted  at  Bayou  Sara  declared  that  he  had 


THE  END    OF  A   NOBLE  LIFE.  929 

acute  bronchitis  complicated  with  grave  ma 
larial  trouble. 

When  we  reached  New  Orleans,  before 
which  he  had  suffered  intensely,  a  cold  rain 
was  falling.  Our  friend,  Mr.  Payne,  with  his 
son-in-law,  Justice  C.  E.  Fenner,  met  us, 
with  Mr.  Davis's  physician  and  friend,  Dr. 
Chaille,  and  our  nephew  and  niece  by  mar 
riage,  Mr.  Edgar  H.  Farrar  and  Mrs.  Stamps. 

It  <vas  evident  we  could  not  carry  him  to 
Beauvoir  where  he  longed  to  be,  and  wre  ac 
cepted  Judge  and  Mrs.  Fenner's  kind  invita 
tion  to  go  to  them.  An  ambulance  was  sent 
from  the  Charity  Hospital,  containing  a  soft 
bed,  spread  by  the  hands  of  tender  Mother 
Agnes,  who  said  it  was  her  privilege,  and  ac 
companied  by  four  young  medical  students, 
whose  fathers  had  all  fought  in  our  cause, 
and  who  were  full  of  reverence  and  sympathy 
for  our  patient  sufferer,  he  was  borne  to  Judge 
Fenner's  house,  apparently  uninjured  by  the 
transfer. 

In  alternating  hope  and  discouragement, 
surrounded  by  attentions  lavished  upon  us  by 
the  whole  family,  such  as  could  not  have  been 
exceeded  by  our  own  children,  attended  by  our 
dear  friends,  Dr.  Chaille  and  Dr.  C.  J.  Bick- 
ham,  he  made  a  brave  struggle  to  overcome 
the  unseen  forces  to  which  he  at  last  suddenly 
succumbed.  His  fortitude  and  patience  were 

VOL.  II.—  59 


930  .        JEFFERSON  DAVIS. 

almost  divine  ;  he  tried  not  to  give  trouble  to 
his  nurses,  and  offered  thanks  for  everything. 
Once,  when  Mrs.  Fenner  gave  him  some  nour 
ishment  and  left  the  room,  he  remarked : 
"  She  would  be  charming  even  without  her 
strict  integrity  and  grace  ;  but  I  am  giving 
her  trouble.  When  can  we  relieve  her  and 
go  to  our  dear  home  ?  " 

Neither  of  his  two  dutiful  and  devoted 
daughters,  who,  he  often  said,  had  never  dis 
obeyed  or  given  him  pain,  were  with  their 
father,  whose  life  they  rendered  happy  by 
their  love.  Our  eldest  daughter,  Mrs.  Mar 
garet  Hayes,  was  with  her  family  in  Colorado, 
and  the  other  had  been  ordered  by  our  physi 
cian  and  urged  by  her  father  to  take  a  sea 
voyage  for  her  health,  and  was  in  Paris  ;  I 
entreated  Mr.  Davis  to  let  me  telegraph  for 
them,  but  he  answered  :  u  Let  our  darlings  be 
happy  while  they  can  ;  I  may  get  well."  Mar 
garet  came,  against  our  advice,  rendered  un 
easy  by  the  press  reports  ;  but  the  poor  child, 
owing  to  an  accident  on  the  train,  reached  us 
too  late  to  see  her  father  alive ;  at  the  risk  of 
his  life  her  husband,  a  much-beloved  son  to 
us,  came  from  his  sick-bed,  with  like  result ; 
and  our  daughter  Varina,  buoyed  up  by  en 
couraging  reports  of  her  father's  improvement 
was  kept  in  ignorance  of  his  condition  until 
his  death.  At  his  request  she  was  forbidden 


THE  END    OF  A    NOBLE  LIFE.  931 

to  return,  as  she  was  then  pronounced  by  her 
physician  too  feeble  for  the  journey. 

I  hoped,  when  this  memoir  was  begun,  to 
portray  my  husband's  life  even  unto  his 
peaceful  bed  of  death,  and  to  show  how  his 
people  hung  about  him,  eager  to  hear  of 
his  state,  and  treasure  every  word  from  his 
lips  ;  how  gladly  they  seized  upon  the  slight 
est  hope  held  out  by  his  skilful  and  tender 
physicians ;  and  how  patiently  he  suffered 
acute  pain,  how  thankfully  he  received  every 
attention  offered,  and  how  bravely  he  tried  to 
live  through  the  long  weeks  of  physical  an 
guish,  and  how,  when  greatly  discouraged,  he 
gently  said  :  "  I  have  much  to  do,  but  if  it  is 
God's  will,  I  must  submit."  My  strength  was 
miscalculated,  and  this  meagre  account  must 
suffice. 

Buoyed  up  by  his  wonderful  constitution, 
which  had  never  been  impaired  by  excesses, 
he  rallied  several  times,  and  on  December 
6th  was  considered  convalescent.  Waking 
from  sleep  at  daylight  on  that  morning,  he 
said  to  me :  "  I  want  to  tell  you  I  am  not 
afraid  to  die."  I  begged  him  not  to  speak 
of  so  dreadful  a  contingency,  and  he  smiled 
and  dropped  asleep. 

In  the  afternoon  he  awoke  from  a  sound, 
quiet  sleep,  with  a  congestive  chill.  A  mo 
ment  before  he  lost  consciousness  he  gently 


932  JEFFERSON  DAVIS. 

declined  the  medicine  that,  urged  by  hope,  I 
pressed  upon  him,  in  these  courteous  words 
which  were  his  last :  "  Pray  excuse  me,  I  can 
not  take  it."  In  three  hours  his  brave,  true 
heart  had  ceased  to  beat. 

Floral  offerings  came  from  all  quarters  of 
our  country.  The  orphan  asylums,  the  col 
leges,  the  societies,  drew  upon  their  little 
stores  to  deck  his  quiet  resting-place.  Many 
thousands  passed  weeping  by  the  bier  where 
he  lay  in  state,  in  his  suit  of  Confederate  gray, 
guarded  by  the  men  who  had  fought  for  the 
cause  he  loved,  and  who  revered  his  honest, 
self-denying,  devoted  life.  His  old  comrades 
in  arms  came  by  thousands  to  mingle  their 
tears  with  ours.  The  Governors  of  nine 
States  came  to  bear  him  to  his  rest.  The 
clergy  of  all  denominations  came  to  pray 
that  his  rest  might  be  peaceful,  and  to  testify 
their  respect  for  and  faith  in  him.  Fifty 
thousand  people  lined  the  streets  as  the 
catafalque  passed.  Few,  if  any,  dry  eyes 
looked  their  last  upon  him  who  had  given 
them  his  life's  service.  The  noble  army  of 
the  West  and  that  of  Northern  Virginia  es 
corted  him  for  the  last  time,  and  the  Wash 
ington  Artillery,  now  gray-haired  men,  were 
the  guard  of  honor  to  his  bier.*  The  elo- 

*  I  have  requested  from  the  Committee  who  arranged  the  ceremon 
ies  permission  to  publish  their  likenesses,  and  have  given  them  here. 


THE  END    OF  A   NOBLE  LIFE.  933 

quent  Bishops  of  Louisiana  and  Mississippi, 
and  the  clergy  of  all  denominations,  delivered 
short  eulogies  upon  him  to  weeping  thou 
sands,  and  the  strains  of  "Rock  of  Ages" 
once  more  bore  up  a  great  spirit  in  its  flight 
to  Him  who  gave,  sustained,  and  took  it  again 
to  Himself. 

A  few  of  the  Grand  Army  of  the  North 
followed  him,  with  respectful  sympathy  for  his 
people's  sorrow.  Our  old  slaves  sent  the 
following  loving  letter : 

"BRIERFIELD,  Miss.,  January  12,  1890. 

"  To  MRS.  JEFFERSON  DAVIS, 

"  Beauvoir,  Miss. 

"  We,  the  old  servants  and  tenants  of  our 
beloved  master,  Honorable  Jefferson  Davis, 
have  cause  to  mingle  our  tears  over  his  death, 
who  was  always  so  kind  and  thoughtful  of  our 
peace  and  happiness.  We  extend  to  you  our 
humble  sympathy.  Respectfully,  your  old 
tenants  and  servants, 

NED  GATOR,  TOM  McKiNNEY, 

GRANT  McKiNNEY,     MARY  PENDLETON, 
MARY  ARCHER,  ELIJA  MARTIN, 

WILLIAM  NERVIS,  ISABEL  KITCHENS, 
TEDDY  EVERSON,  HENRY  GARLAND, 
LAURA  NICK,  WILLIAM  GREEN, 

Gus  WILLIAMS,  and  others." 


934  JEFFERSON  DAVIS. 

Thornton  Montgomery,  now  a  man  of 
means,  the  successful  son  of  Joseph  E.  Davis's 
old  servant,  Ben  Montgomery,  sent  the  fol 
lowing  affectionate  note  of  sympathy  : 

"  CHRISTINE,  NORTH  DAKOTA,  December  7,  1889. 

"  Miss  VARINA  :  I  have  watched  with  deep 
interest  and  solicitude  the  illness  of  Mr.  Da 
vis  at  Brierfield,  his  trip  down  on  the 
steamer  Leathers,  and  your  meeting  and  re 
turning  with  him  to  the  residence  of  Mr. 
Payne,  in  New  Orleans  ;  and  I  had  hoped  that 
with  good  nursing  and  superior  medical  skill, 
together  with  his  great  will-power  to  sustain 
him,  he  would  recover.  But,  alas  !  for  human 
endeavor,  an  over  -  ruling  providence  has 
willed  it  otherwise.  I  appreciate  your  great 
loss,  and  my  heart  goes  out  to  you  in  this 
hour  of  your  deepest  affliction. 

"  Would  that  I  could  help  you  bear  the  bur 
den  that  is  yours  to-day.  Since  I  am  power 
less  to  do  so,  I  beg  that  you  accept  my  ten- 
derest  sympathy  and  condolence. 

"  Your  very  obedient  servant, 

"  THORNTON. 
"  To  MRS.  JEFFERSON  DAVIS,  Beauvoir,  Miss." 

Could  there  have  been  a  surer  testimony  to 
Mr.  Davis's  generous,  just,  and  Christian  spirit 
than  that  these  negroes  have  given  ;  certainly 
none  afforded  me  more  comfort. 


THE  END   OF  A   NOBLE  LIFE. 


935 


The  New  York  World,  published  by  an 
Union  soldier,  uttered  a  noble  eulogium  upon 
him.  The  New  York  Sun  paid  an  eloquent 
tribute  to  him,  and  ended  with  these  words  : 
"A  great  soul  has  passed." 

Mr.  James  Redpath,  a  life-long  political 
opponent,  thus  eloquently  expressed  his  ad 
miration  of  him  after  having  been  for  months 
domesticated  with  him. 

"  Before  I  had  been  with  Mr.  Davis  three 
days,  every  preconceived  idea  of  him  utterly 
and  forever  disappeared.  Nobody  doubted 
Mr.  Davis's  intellectual  capacity,  but  it  was 
not  his  mental  power  that  most  impressed 
me.  It  was  his  goodness,  first  of  all,  and 
then  his  intellectual  integrity.  I  never  saw  an 
old  man  whose  face  bore  more  emphatic  evi 
dences  of  a  gentle,  refined,  and  benignant 
character.  He  seemed  to  me  the  ideal  em 
bodiment  of  '  sweetness  and  light.'  His  con 
versation  showed  that  he  had  (  charity  for  all 
and  malice  toward  none/  I  never  heard  him 
utter  an  unkind  word  of  any  man,  and  he 
spoke  of  nearly  all  his  more  famous  oppo 
nents.  His  manner  could  best  be  described 
as  gracious,  so  exquisitely  refined,  so  courtly 
yet  heart-warm.  The  dignity  of  most  of  our 
public  men  often  reminds  one  of  the  hod- 
carrier's  '  store  suit' — it  is  so  evidently  put  on 
and  ill-fitting.  Mr.  Davis's  dignity  was  as 


936  JEFFERSON  DA  VIS. 

natural  and  as  charming  as  the  perfume  of  a 
rose — the  fitting  expression  of  a  serene,  be 
nign,  and  comely  moral  nature.  However 
handsome  he  may  have  been  when  excited  in 
battle  or  debate — and  at  such  times,  I  was 
told,  he  seemed  an  incarnation  of  the  most 
poetic  conceptions  of  a  valiant  knight — it 
surely  was  in  his  own  home,  with  his  family 
and  friends  around  him,  that  he  was  seen  at 
his  best ;  and  that  best  was  the  highest  point 
of  grace  and  refinement  that  the  Southern 
character  has  reached. 

"  Lest  any  foreigner  should  read  this  article, 
let  me  say  for  his  benefit  that  there  are  two 
Jefferson  Davises  in  American  history — one 
is  a  conspirator,  a  rebel,  a  traitor,  and  the 
'  Fiend  of  Andersonville ' — he  is  a  myth 
evolved  from  the  hell-smoke  of  cruel  war — as 
purely  imaginary  a  personage  as  Mephistoph- 
eles  or  the  Hebrew  Devil ;  the  other  was  a 
statesman  with  clean  hands  and  pure  heart, 
who  served  his  people  faithfully  from  budding 
manhood  to  hoary  age,  without  thought  of 
self,  with  unbending  integrity,  and  to  the  best 
of  his  great  ability — he  was  a  man  of  whom 
all  his  countrymen  who  knew  him  personally, 
without  distinction  of  creed  political,  are  proud, 
and  proud  that  he  was  their  countryman." 

His  own  people  poured  out  their  sorrow  in 
loving  and  eloquent  words,  and  held  meetings 


THE  END    OF  A   NOBLE   LIFE.  937 

in  his  honor  in  every  little  hamlet  in  our 
Confederate  country,  and  the  great  orator  of 
the  South,  Senator  Daniel,  of  Virginia,  said 
of  him,  in  an  oration  not  inferior  to  any  that 
ever  was  delivered : 

"  He  swayed  Senates  and  led  the  soldiers 
of  the  Union,  stood  accused  of  treasons  in  a 
court  of  justice.  .  .  . 

"  He  ruled  millions  and  was  put  in  chains. 
He  created  a  nation,  he  followed  its  bier,  and 
he  died  a  disfranchished  citizen. 

"  Though  great  in  many  things,  he  was 
greatest  in  that  fortitude  which,  lifting  him  first 
to  the  loftiest  height  and  casting  him  thence 
to  the  depth  of  disappointment,  found  him 
everywhere  the  erect  and  constant  friend  of 
truth.  He  conquered  himself  and  forgave  his 
enemies,  but  he  bent  to  none  but  God.  No 
public  man  was  ever  subjected  to  sterner 
ordeals  of  character  and  a  closer  scrutiny  of 
conduct.  He  was  in  the  public  gaze  for  nearly 
half  a  century,  and  in  the  fate  which  at  last 
overwhelmed  the  Southern  Confederacy  at 
its  end,  official  records  and  private  papers  fell 
into  the  hands  of  his  enemies.  Wary  eyes 
searched  to  see  if  he  had  overstepped  the 
bounds  which  the  laws  of  war  have  set  to  ac 
tion,  and  could  such  evidence  have  been  found, 
wrathful  hearts  would  have  cried  for  ven 
geance.  But  though  every  hiding-place  was 


938  JEFFERSON  DAVIS. 

overhauled  and  a  reward  was  ready  for  any 
who  would  betray  the  secrets  of  the  captive 
chief  whose  armies  were  scattered,  and  whose 
hands  were  chained,  though  the  sea  gave  up 
its  dead  in  the  convulsion  of  his  country, 
there  could  be  no  guilty  fact,  and  accusing 
tongues  were  silenced.  Whatever  record 
leaped  to  light,  his  home  could  not  be 
shamed. 

"  The  people  of  the  South  knew  Jefferson 
Davis.  He  mingled  his  daily  life  with  those 
who  had  bound  up  with  him  all  that  life  can 
cherish.  To  his  hands  they  consigned  their 
destinies.  Ruin,  wounds,  and  death  became 
their  portion.  And  yet  they  declare  that 
Davis  was  an  unselfish  patriot  and  a  noble 
gentleman  ;  that  as  a  trustee  of  the  highest 
trust  that  man  can  place  in  man,  he  was  clear 
and  faithful ;  and  that  in  his  office  he  ex 
hibited  those  grand,  heroic  attributes  which 
were  worthy  of  its  dignity  and  their  struggles 
for  independence. 

"  Thus  it  was  that  when  the  news  came 
that  he  was  no  more,  there  was  no  Southern 
home  that  did  not  pass  under  the  shadow  of 
affliction.  Thus  it  was  that  the  governors  of 
commonwealths  bore  his  body  to  the  tomb, 
and  that  multitudes  gathered  from  afar  to  bow 
in  reverence.  Thus  it  was  that  throughout 
the  South  scarred  soldiers,  widowed  wives, 


THE  END    OF  A   NOBLE   LIFE.  939 

the  kindred  of  those  who  had  died  in  battle, 
met  to  give  utterance  to  their  respect  and 
sorrow.  Thus  it  is  that  the  general  assem 
bly  of  Virginia  is  now  convened  to  pay  this 
tribute.  Completer  testimony  to  human 
worth  was  never  given,  and  thus  it  will  be 
that  the  South  will  build  a  monument  to  re 
cord  their  verdict,  that  he  was  true  to  his 
people,  his  conscience,  and  his  God,  and  no 
stone  that  covers  the  dead  will  be  worthier  of 
the  Roman  legend,  '  Clarus  et  vir  fortis- 


simus.' 


THE    END. 


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E467.1 

Davis,  V.H.  D26 

Jefferson  Davis.      D3 

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DAVIS 


